The Lousiana Weekly, December 23, 2019: Proposed Changes to CRA Pose Threat to Vulnerable Communities, Critics Say Most
Proposed changes to a crucial federal home-ownership program could cripple the communities of color across the country and in New Orleans specifically, said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans.
After a year and a half of soliciting public input and testimony, two federal agencies under the purview of the Trump administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, recently released a joint proposal calling for significant changes and updates to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, which requires banks to meet the credit needs of all the communities in which they operate.
Cashauna Hill, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, noted that other experienced groups adept at applying the CRA in a positive way, such as the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, have objected to the proposed changes. She agreed that the CRA needs to be updated – it was last significantly revised in 1995 – but added that the suggestions of the organizations that traditionally have successfully applied the act and helped the communities that need it have been shunned or tossed aside.
