Crapo Leads More Than 100 Members of Congress to Reaffirm Support for CDFI Fund

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and U.S. Representative Young Kim (R-California) sent a bicameral letter to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought reaffirming support for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund and urging the Administration to continue carrying out the statutory obligations of the Fund, emphasizing its elimination will negatively impact the economy long-term. An additional 103 Republican Members of Congress signed the letter.

“CDFIs play an important role in supporting economic development in rural, tribal and other underserved communities in our states,” the letter reads. “They enhance the viability of community development projects, especially in rural areas, by offering flexible financing tools such as longer loan terms and interest-only repayment periods.”

“It is unclear how these programs will continue to operate if the CDFI Fund’s obligations cease to function,” the letter continues.

“We stand ready to work with the Administration to make additional improvements at the Fund to ensure it fulfills its purpose of serving communities left behind by the federal government and the traditional finance sector,” the letter concludes.

The letter also highlights certain programs administered by the Fund, including:

• The New Markets Tax Credit program, which has created over one million jobs since the credit’s creation and was made permanent under the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA); and
• The Capital Magnet Fund, which scales housing investments to build new housing and pairs with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, also permanently expanded by the OBBBA, to address the nation’s housing shortage.

Text of the letter is available HERE.

Senator Crapo is the co-chair of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus.

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