Joint Trades Letter Requesting to Halt CDFI Fund Reduction-in-Force to Protect Local Economies

Dear Secretary Bessent and Director Vought:

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund has long stood as one of the federal government's most effective, market-based strategies for fostering economic opportunity and expanding homeownership in low- and moderate-income communities. Under your leadership, important steps have already been taken to strengthen the Fund's alignment with statutory intent and the Administration's priorities, ensuring that it continues to operate efficiently, responsibly, and in a manner that delivers measurable results for communities across America. We look forward to working with you to make the CDFI Fund stronger and more accountable, enhancing its ability to leverage private capital, promote entrepreneurship, and advance prosperity in communities that need it most.

In light of this progress, it is important that the CDFI Fund maintain appropriate staff and funding to effectively carry out its mission. Ensuring the Fund has the necessary resources in place will allow it to sustain momentum and fully deliver on the Administration's priorities of revitalizing communities, supporting small businesses and homeownership, and promoting economic growth nationwide. The Administration's actions to make the Fund more effective should not be undercut by the loss of the experienced professionals who are key to implementing them.

Appropriated FY 2025 funds remain available to support administrative and program costs through September 30, 2026. Preserving a fully functioning CDFI Fund will reinforce the Administration's broader success in promoting “Parallel Prosperity,” where Main Street and Wall Street grow together, by ensuring that small businesses, entrepreneurs, and financial institutions have the tools they need to thrive. The Fund also plays a central role in implementing key priorities, including the permanent authorization of the New Markets Tax Credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which continues to drive private investment into underserved communities.

Collectively, our organizations represent thousands of FDIC-insured depository institutions and nonbank CDFIs across the country. Since its establishment in 1996, the CDFI Fund has provided the framework through which financial institutions expand access to capital in markets that might otherwise remain underserved. Its programs are invaluable in helping banks and other lenders meet community credit needs, create jobs, and build local wealth.

Banks, credit unions, and nonbank CDFIs alike rely on Treasury-issued CDFI certification as the recognized standard for determining whether an entity effectively serves low-income communities. Maintaining the capacity to administer this certification is vital to ensuring that capital continues to reach rural, small-town, Native, and other historically underserved markets. With over half of all CDFIs being depository institutions, sustaining the Fund's full operational capability will also protect the stability of key segments of the federally insured financial system.

Our members, ranging from large national institutions to community banks and nonbank lenders, remain committed to safe and sound and impactful finance. We stand ready to partner with you, the Administration, and Congress to preserve the CDFI Fund's effectiveness and ensure continuity for programs that directly benefit low- and moderate-income households, small businesses, and local economies nationwide.

We greatly appreciate your leadership, your commitment to strengthening the CDFI Fund and your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

American Bankers Association
1333 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
www.aba.com

Community Development Bankers Association
1201 15th Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20005
www.cdbanks.org

Independent Community Bankers of America
1615 L Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20036
www.icba.org

Mortgage Bankers Association
1919 M Street NW, 5th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036
www.mba.org

National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders
1025 Connecticut Ave NW #710
Washington, D.C. 20036
www.naahl.org

National Bankers Association
1513 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
www.nationalbankers.org