A review of budget documents suggests the Obama Administration is seeking a $250 million allocation for the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund for fiscal year 2011.
The administration released its proposed budget for the next fiscal year today. Congress still has to set the budget's actual spending levels. Credit unions that the CDFI Fund has certified as CDFIs are eligible to apply for grants from the fund.
The administration's budget increases money available for financial assistance grants to CDFIs from $108 million in this year's budget to $155 million for next year and leaves the amount of money budgeted for assistance to Native American CDFI's at $12 million.
The budget also introduces two new budget categories for CDFIs.
The Healthy Food Financing Initiative was allocated $10 million to provide grants and loans to CDFIs for the purpose of offering affordable financing and technical assistance to expand the availability of healthy food options in distressed communities. The Bank on USA initiative was allocated $50 million to promote access to affordable and appropriate financial services and basic consumer credit products for households without access to such products and services, the administration said.
