CBS News: How $98 Trillion of Household Wealth in America is Distributed: “It’s Very Depressing”
The gap between rich and poor in America is the worst it’s been in more than a half century.
The Washington Post: The Guardian ends advertising from fossil fuel companies because of climate change
The Guardian will no longer accept advertising from oil and gas companies and, in doing so, becomes the first major news organization to divest from industries that extract fossil fuels, company executives announced Wednesday.
The Washington Post: Crucial Bank Law Softened Under Trump Proposal
The Trump proposal aims to broaden the definition of what constitutes a bank’s community — taking into account that online banking now exists — while broadening the types of loans and services that would qualify under CRA.
The Washington Post: Crucial Bank Law Softened Under Trump Proposal Read More »
Politico: Trump allies are handing out cash to black voters
Organizers have begun holding events in black communities where they lavish praise on the president while handing out thousands of dollars in giveaways.
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Could Lack of Impact Assessment in OCC and FDIC Proposal Break CRA?
A cardinal rule of any rulemaking is that a federal agency must use data and analysis to assess the impact of its proposed changes to a regulation. Based on NCRC’s analysis so far, it appears that the OCC and FDIC have flagrantly violated this fundamental rule.
Could Lack of Impact Assessment in OCC and FDIC Proposal Break CRA? Read More »
Fortune: Why Melinda Gates is investing $50 million to make the next Silicon Valley—starting in Chicago
“As the tech industry continues to expand beyond Silicon Valley to other areas across the country, we have the opportunity to reimagine what the sector could look like,” Gates wrote in a LinkedIn post scheduled to publish on Tuesday morning.
AP News: Advocates: Crucial bank law softened under Trump proposal
“We all agree there needed to be a list. The problem is what the (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) has put on that list,” said Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an umbrella group for dozens of community groups trying to get banks to do more work in low-income neighborhoods.
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Morning Consult: Waters Vows Subpoena on OCC Community Reinvestment Act Proposal
Jesse Van Tol, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said his group has already submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the data.
“The OCC is supposed to work in the public’s interest,” he said, “and the American public deserves a chance to review the government’s own data and analysis before the OCC pushes ahead with new rules based on it.”
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Curbed: How Trump is rolling back housing desegregation rules, explained
Critics argue the proposed changes will weaken protections against housing discrimination.
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City of Toledo, OH: Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz released the following statement today regarding proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act
The proposed rules weaken a compliance system that needs to be strengthened, introduce new loopholes and add confusion and inconsistency, all while failing to address the real changes needed to modernize CRA to respond to changes in our country’s demographics and changes in the structure of the banking industry.
The Advocate: Credit unions are valuable for members, communities
Credit unions are not just institutions, but dream fulfillment engines that lead to a first car, home or financing higher education aspirations. For this reason, public and policy makers should continue to recognize the value that credit unions provide.
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The Financial Brand: 5 Reasons to Think Twice Before Closing Branches
“The bank branch is to local economies what the debit card is to your wallet — a key point of contact to the financial system and the way a large part of the population accesses non-predatory financial services,” said Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
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Living Architecture Monitor: Does Green Infrastructure Development Have To Result In Gentrification?
According to Jason Richardson, one of the study’s authors and the director of research for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, “We’ve also shown that revitalization of struggling neighborhoods is unevenly distributed. The big investments that fuel gentrification and cultural displacement didn’t reach most of the nation’s poorest neighborhoods and rural areas.”
The Washington Post: Trump’s deregulation push takes a new aim. A Fed board member is pushing back.
The CRA remains the federal government’s most visible statutory tool for making financial institutions take account of their impact on poorer communities. Given the persistent wealth gap between Whites and people of color — a gap arising in part from discriminatory federal policies — the 1977 law’s purpose remains all too relevant.
The Hill: CRA modernization: A once-in-a-generation opportunity
CRA modernization is overdue and needs to be done so banks and communities get the clarity and flexibility they need to ensure they have maximum positive impact. But no modernization effort is worth gutting the central purpose of CRA – constructive reinvestment in the communities that need it most, where most of us live and work.
The Hill: CRA modernization: A once-in-a-generation opportunity Read More »