House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), also a member of the Financial Services Committee, introduced yesterday a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rules finalized this month by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, provided the following statement:
“The new rules should be overturned and the three agencies that regulate the nation’s banks should start over and work together on a true modernization of the CRA regulatory framework. The OCC shouldn’t have moved forward in the middle of the pandemic, and with rules that will undermine the ability of communities to rebuild after. Even most banks didn’t want these new rules put into place right now, and they still are unsure what it will take to implement them.
“The new rules weaken requirements for banks to lend to lower-income borrowers and communities, which is the whole point of the law. The timing couldn’t be worse, in the middle of a health and financial crisis that is far from over.
“Congress and the President really should overturn this plan so all three banking agencies can work together on true modernization of CRA. We need that, struggling communities need it, and the OCC rules don’t help.
“We greatly appreciate the efforts of Reps. Waters and Meeks to cancel the OCC’s new CRA rules.”
