Cedric Richmond Probes Treasury on Program Aimed to Protect Black and Latino Communities

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA) and the three Co-Chairs of the CBC Economic Development and Wealth Creation Taskforce -- Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), and Dwight Evans (D-PA) -- sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin expressing the Caucus’ concern that the Trump administration’s review of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) will result in a weaker version of the law that hurts the very communities that the law is supposed to help: historically underserved communities that struggle to attract private sector investment. “The CRA is a critically important economic policy created to remedy more than a century of exclusionary economic and financial policy in the private and public sectors. Now is not the time to make it harder for these communities to get ahead,” the members wrote. “Collectively, we now encourage the Administration and relevant banking regulators to tread cautiously with any potential changes that will result in decreased lending or investment in underserved communities, including communities of color that we represent.” The CRA requires banks to make efforts to lend, invest, and serve customers in lower-income communities -- which remain disproportionately Black and Hispanic. The Trump administration is planning to overhaul the CRA, although it has not provided any specific details regarding precise changes to the law. Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting said on Tuesday that regulators plan to have "an interagency redo" of the CRA rules out for distribution by the end of March.See the full text of the CBC letter here.