"When Dominique Thornhill tried to get a loan to launch a child-care center in 2020, every conventional bank she approached glanced at her thick business plan and slim finances, then turned her away. "I thought that's what small-business loans were supposed to support, but I didn't receive that support at all," the former Pittsburgh-public-school teacher told me. "Instead, it was Come back to us when you're already established.""
"The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, part of the Treasury Department, is under threat from Trump's Office of Management and Budget, even as Republicans and Democrats in Congress fight to ensure that its dollars continue to flow to communities where the traditional banking system is often out of reach. Most of the $324 million that Congress allocated for the fund for this fiscal year, which ends September 30, has been frozen for months."
The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund provides federally backed loans to community lenders that serve areas underserved by traditional banks. Congress allocated $324 million for the fund for this fiscal year, but most of that money has been frozen for months. The Office of Management and Budget has resisted releasing the funds while Treasury leadership defends the program. Community lenders known as CDFIs fear they may need to scale back programs or shut down. The funding has enabled entrepreneurs with thin finances to launch businesses such as child-care centers. Bipartisan senators have pressured the administration to release the money.
Read at The Atlantic
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