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PHILADELPHIA, May 23, 2017 -- Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) today released the following statement in response to the administration’s full budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2018, which eliminates funding for the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) grants.
OFN President and CEO Lisa Mensah said, “We are very disappointed with the administration’s recommendation to eliminate funding for CDFI Fund programs. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) have received bipartisan support for years and have a proven track record of leveraging private and federal funds. CDFIs produce a multiplier effect, attracting an additional twelve dollars from private sources for every one dollar of federal funds. From FY 2005-FY 2015, the CDFI Fund awarded $1.4 billion in Financial Assistance awards and the CDFIs who were the recipients of these Financial Assistance awards closed $30.4 billion in loans. That helps all economies move forward, as CDFIs work on projects that get these dollars into the hands of hardworking Americans in low-income rural, urban, and Native communities.”
OFN member and President and CEO of Natural Capital Investment Fund Marten Jenkins said, “In places like West Virginia, where capital for small business is tough to come by, CDFIs make all the difference. The CDFI Fund is the best kind of public-private partnership because it helps CDFIs build capacity on their balance sheets to provide the finance and the know-how to help the entrepreneur be the entrepreneur.”
The CDFI Fund has received bipartisan support and Congress appropriated $248 million in funding for FY 2017. Under President Trump’s budget proposal funding would be eliminated.
OFN member CDFIs are performance-oriented, responsible investors that partner across public and private sectors to finance opportunities in low-income, low-wealth, and under-resourced communities. For more than 30 years, CDFIs have successfully leveraged public resources to contribute to economic growth in markets that mainstream financing does not reach.
CONTACT: Jennifer Tedeschi Phone Number: 610.649.9292 Email: [email protected]
