Appropriations Update

On July 28, the Senate Appropriations posted all Fiscal Year 2023 bills on the Committee website:

https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/breaking-chairman-leahy-releases-fiscal-year-2023-senate-appropriations-bills The FY 23 Senate Financial Services General Government Bill provides $324 million for the CDFI Fund, $29 million above FY 22 and $7 million below the budget request, and $12 million below the House-passed bill.  The table below includes the allocation among program accounts:

Of note is the Committee Report language on Persistent Poverty and Non-Metro and Rural Areas:

Persistent Poverty.–Building upon the existing investment requirement in persistent poverty counties that has been included in previous appropriations Acts, the Committee supports increasing targeted investments in high-poverty areas, defined as any census tract with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent as measured by the 2016-2020 5-year data series available from the American Community Survey of the Census Bureau. The Committee directs the CDFI Fund to place a priority on making additional funds available to CDFI ‘s that have provided no less than 15 percent of their total lending to recipients in persistent poverty counties, as measured by a 3-year average of their activity. The Committee further directs the CDFI Fund to submit a report to the Committee that includes a description of such prioritization and efforts; itemized descriptions of investments in persistent poverty counties and high-poverty areas over the most recent three fiscal years; and an assessment of the economic impact of such investments, including, to the extent practicable, data on impacted individuals disaggregated by household income, race, gender, age, national origin, disability status, and whether such individuals live in urban, suburban, or rural areas. Non-Metropolitan and Rural Areas.–The Committee directs Treasury to take into consideration the unique conditions, challenges, and scale of non-metropolitan and rural areas when designing and administering programs to address economic revitalization and community development and when making CDFI award decisions. The Committee notes that the CDFI Fund is required by 12 U.S.C. 4706(b) to seek to fund a geographically diverse group of award recipients, including those from non-metropolitan and rural areas. In addition, the Committee directs funding to be used in each program for projects that serve populations living in persistent poverty counties in accordance with this act. The Committee directs the Secretary to report to the Committee within 90 days of enactment of this act detailing how the fiscal year 2022 CDFI Program recipients intend to serve non-metropolitan and rural areas.

Here is a link to the Committee Report: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FSGGFY23RPT.pdf

The Senate Appropriations Committee will not mark up any of these bills. When it returns in September, Congress will pass a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through mid-December.  The final disposition of FY 23 appropriations will be, to some extent, a function of the outcome of the midterm elections.