Policy

Articles about NCRC policy issues.

CRA’s New Benchmark Could Put 85% of Current Community Development Activity at Risk

By / / Policy, Views / 7 minutes of reading

The strategic plan provisions in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) proposed CRA rule have received less attention than the proposal’s headline changes. However, combined with the OCC’s December 2025 guidance, it could make it easier for banks to pass CRA exams while providing less community development financing than they have historically. 

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The Proposed CRA Rule’s Strategic Plans: A More Predictable Path to Doing Less

By / / Policy, Views / 6 minutes of reading

The strategic plan provisions in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) proposed CRA rule have received less attention than the proposal’s headline changes. However, combined with the OCC’s December 2025 guidance, it could make it easier for banks to pass CRA exams while providing less community development financing than they have historically. 

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The Proposed 2026 CRA Rollbacks: Key Takeaways and Why it Matters

By / / Policy, Views / 11 minutes of reading

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) proposed Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule would weaken bank obligations to invest, lend and provide services in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities, while reducing transparency and accountability.

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OCC’s Proposed Rule Could Undermine Investment in Communities of Color

By / / Policy, Views / 3 minutes of reading

The Office of the Comptroller Currency (OCC) recently proposed a rule that could reduce investment in communities of color and open the door for more lending discrimination. The agency aims to remove any references to “minority and women-owned entities” in their list of eligible public welfare investment activities that banks can undertake. The OCC is also proposing

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The Long Fight for Small Business Lending Transparency Is Not Over

By / / Policy, Views / 5 minutes of reading

Small businesses play a vital role in the US economy, but their ability to access credit has been a longstanding obstacle to their viability. A recent Federal Reserve report summarizing survey data found that nearly one-fourth of small businesses that employ others are owned by persons of color.  Congress enacted Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act to solve a basic market failure: the lack

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Bridging Local Realities and Federal Policy: NCRC’s 2026 Just Economy Conference Hill Day Recap

By / / Policy, Views / 4 minutes of reading

“I have been advocating on the Hill for more than 30 years,” said Carol Johnson, NCRC board chair and civil rights attorney. “Every visit reminds me of something essential: the freedom we each have to petition our government and hold our leaders accountable for the decisions that shape our daily lives […] especially when the

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Closing the Door on Immigrant Entrepreneurs: SBA’s New Loan Restrictions Create Barriers for Non-Citizen Small Business Owners

By / / Policy, Views / 4 minutes of reading

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently posted a policy notice that would prevent legal permanent residents, such as immigrants with green cards, from accessing any SBA financing product effective March 1, 2026. Legal permanent residents are authorized to live and work in the US. To receive an SBA-backed loan, the SBA now requires small businesses to be 100% owned by US citizens or nationals.   This is an abrupt reversal from SBA’s original policy notice released this past December, which would have allowed small businesses that were 100% owned by legal permanent residents to access SBA financing

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The Importance of Applying Anti-Redlining Laws to Property Insurance To Fix the Affordability Crisis

By / / Policy, Views / 7 minutes of reading

The anti-redlining movement took shape in the 1970s as a response to long-standing obstacles that made it difficult for all communities to prosper. Financial companies engaged in redlining by mapping out neighborhoods they refused to serve. Loans to people of color were denied at higher rates, or originated at higher costs, to the borrower. Blind

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FY 2026 Budget Deal: Final Funding for HUD, CDFI, SBA – and What’s Next for DHS

By / / Policy, Views / 3 minutes of reading

On February 3, President Trump signed H.R.7148 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 into law, which will fund most of the federal government until September 30. The package included five of the six remaining appropriations bills and corresponding earmarks that Congress had not yet passed:   Financial Services and General Government  State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs  Defense  Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies  Transportation,

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After the Shutdown: What We Learned about SNAP’s Vulnerabilities

By / / Policy, Views / 5 minutes of reading

The federal government shutdown that began on October 1 created immediate uncertainty for millions of households that rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Although the shutdown has ended, the disruption revealed how fragile our nation’s food assistance infrastructure really is.  A single lapse in federal funding brought SNAP to the brink of severe

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How misuse of the trust bank charter model will lead to more financial woes for communities

By / / Policy, Views / 9 minutes of reading

The nation’s largest crypto firms are looking to consolidate their power to the detriment of their customers and communities already lacking vital consumer protections and economic development opportunities. As more and more digital currency companies are vying for financial legitimacy by becoming a national trust bank via the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

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The OCC’s Debanking Pivot Is Another Veiled Attack on CRA

By / / Policy, Views / 4 minutes of reading

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently announced plans to alter how banks are evaluated under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), one of the longest-standing laws to prevent redlining. The CRA directs the OCC to regularly analyze the number and quality of a bank’s loans, investments and services to historically underserved borrowers

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How Trump’s Use of Rescissions Could Threaten Community Development Work

By / / Policy, Views / 5 minutes of reading

Many nonprofits in the community and economic development space are concerned about federal funds and grants being temporarily withheld or permanently canceled via an executive action known as rescission. The Trump Administration has been using rescissions to withhold funding from nonprofits supporting low- to moderate-income communities. This article explains the rescission process, its political implications

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President Trump’s Severe Medicaid and SNAP Cuts Will Sabotage Economic Justice Work

By / / Policy, Views / 6 minutes of reading

Severe cuts to social assistance programs recently signed into law by President Trump will upend life for lower-income families — and could even put people out of their homes. Belinda is a senior citizen living in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. In 2004, she qualified for a home loan with a monthly payment of $130 based

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How Municipalities Can Better Leverage AFFH’s Community Engagement Requirement

By / / Policy, Views / 5 minutes of reading

All Americans deserve to live in inclusive communities where everyone has access to the resources that their communities desperately need. But a federal program designed to make that happen is going underused by local officials who often aren’t aware of its existence. If properly utilized, the program’s provisions towards creating more equitable housing outcomes would

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