Washington State Could Lose $3 Billion in Community Development Investments With Proposed Changes To CRA, NCRC’s President and CEO Jesse Van Tol Says

Washington State could lose nearly 100% of the community development investments, loans and grants from banks regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) if the agencies' proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) are implemented, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition's (NCRC) President and CEO Jesse Van Tol said today at the organization's Reinvest Washington summit.

"I'm sharing with you today original research we have done to quantify the effects in Washington State. Looking at the community development activity for banks in Washington, we're able to document an annual activity of $3.1 billion for community development," said Van Tol. "Under this proposal, the metrics would potentially allow banks to do just $100 million annually in Washington, losing over $3 billion for financing affordable housing, small business development and community facilities."

This analysis is based on the most recent CRA exam for each OCC- and FDIC-regulated bank.

"Luckily, Washington has had a state CRA since 1985," said Van Tol. "Washington's CRA gives state regulators a way to prevent the significant declines in the quantity and quality of community development financing that the federal proposed rule would bring to their state. We strongly encourage all states to establish and strengthen their own Community Reinvestment Acts in response to the proposed rollbacks at the federal level."

NCRC's Reinvest Washington is a regional summit held in a new city each year. It brings together community leaders to build a Just Economy grounded in local voices driven by collective strength and built to lift up every neighborhood.

This year's summit focused on statewide priorities and locally rooted work already underway that expand housing opportunities without deepening displacement, strengthen homeownership and wealth-building, improve access to capital and community investment, support locally rooted development and entrepreneurship, sustain community-led organizations and development systems and build partnerships that create broader shared prosperity.

To learn more about the proposed changes to CRA, visit www.ncrc.org/cra .