Text of Senate Amendment 4394

Text of Senate Amendment 4394

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 43 (Monday, March 9, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 43 (Monday, March 9, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S939-S941] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 4394. Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Crapo, and Ms. Smith) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 4308 proposed by Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself and Ms. Warren) to the bill H.R. 6644, a bill to increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: At the appropriate place, insert the following: TITLE _____--ACCESS TO FAIR FINANCING FOR OPPORTUNITY AND RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT SEC. ___01. SHORT TITLE. This title may be cited as the ``Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act''. SEC. ___02. REQUIREMENT TO TESTIFY. Section 104(b) of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4703(b)) is amended by adding to the end the following: ``(5) Annual testimony.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or a designee of the Secretary) shall, at the discretion of the chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and chairman of the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives, annually testify before such committees (or a subcommittee of such committees) regarding the operations of the Fund during the previous fiscal year.''. SEC. ___03. CDFI BOND GUARANTEE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT. (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the authority to guarantee bonds under section 114A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4713a) (commonly referred to as the ``CDFI Bond Guarantee Program'') provides community development financial institutions with a sustainable source of long-term capital and furthers the mission of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (established under section 104(a) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 4703(a)) to increase economic opportunity and promote community development investments for underserved populations and distressed communities in the United States. (b) Guarantees for Bonds and Notes Issued for Community or Economic Development Purposes.-- (1) In general.--Section 114A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4713a) is amended-- (A) in subsection (c)(2)-- (i) by inserting ``outstanding'' before ``principal amount''; and (ii) by striking ``multiplied by an amount equal to the outstanding principal balance of issued notes or bonds,''; (B) by amending subsection (e)(2) to read as follows: ``(2) Limitation on guarantee amount.--The Secretary may not guarantee any amount under the program equal to less than $25,000,000, but the total of all such guarantees in any fiscal year may not exceed $1,000,000,000.''; and (C) in subsection (k), by striking ``September 30, 2014'' and inserting ``the date that is the later of 4 years after the date of enactment of the Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act or December 31, 2030.''. (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-325; 108 Stat. 2160) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 114 the following: ``Sec. 114A. Guarantees for bonds and notes issued for community or economic development purposes.''. (c) Report on the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives on the effectiveness of the CDFI bond guarantee program established under section 114A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4713a). SEC. ___04. CAPITALIZATION ASSISTANCE TO ENHANCE LIQUIDITY. (a) In General.--Section 113 of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4712) is amended-- (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: ``(a) Assistance.-- ``(1) In general.--The Fund may provide funds to organizations for the purpose of-- ``(A) purchasing loans that are originated by community development financial institutions, loan participations, or interests therein from community development financial institutions; ``(B) providing guarantees, loan loss reserves, or other forms of credit enhancement to promote liquidity for community development financial institutions; and ``(C) otherwise enhancing the liquidity of community development financial institutions. ``(2) Construction of federal government funds.--For purposes of this subsection, notwithstanding section 105(a)(9) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(9)), funds provided pursuant to such Act shall be considered to be Federal Government funds.''; (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: ``(b) Selection.-- ``(1) In general.--The selection of organizations to receive assistance and the amount of assistance to be provided to any organization under this section shall be at the discretion of the Fund and in accordance with criteria established by the Fund. ``(2) Eligibility.--Organizations eligible to receive assistance under this section-- ``(A) shall have a primary purpose of promoting community development; and ``(B) are not required to be community development financial institutions. ``(3) Prioritization.--For the purpose of making an award of funds under this section, the Fund shall prioritize the selection of organizations that-- ``(A) demonstrate relevant experience or an ability to carry out the activities under this section, including experience leading or participating in loan purchase structures or purchasing or participating in the purchase of, assigning, or otherwise transferring, assets from community development financial institutions; ``(B) demonstrate the capacity to increase the number or dollar volume of loan originations or expand the products or services of community development financial institutions, including by leveraging the award with private capital; and ``(C) will use the funds to support community development financial institutions that represent broad geographic coverage or that serve borrowers that have experienced significant unmet capital or financial services needs.''; (3) in subsection (c), in the first sentence-- (A) by striking ``$5,000,000'' and inserting ``$20,000,000''; and (B) by striking ``during any 3-year period''; and (4) by adding at the end the following: ``(g) Regulations.--The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the authorities or purposes of this section.''. (b) Emergency Capital Investment Funds.--Section 104A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4703a) is amended by striking subsection (l) and inserting the following: ``(l) Deposit of Funds.--All funds received by the Secretary in connection with purchases made pursuant this section, including interest payments, dividend payments, and proceeds from the sale of any financial instrument, shall be deposited into the Fund and used-- ``(1) to provide financial assistance to organizations pursuant to section 113; and ``(2) to provide financial and technical assistance pursuant to section 108, except that subsection (e) of that section shall be waived.''. (c) Annual Reports.-- [[Page S940]] (1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the terms ``community development financial institution'' and ``Fund'' have the meanings given the terms in section 103 of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702). (2) Requirements.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which assistance is first provided under section 113 of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4712) pursuant to the amendments made by subsection (a) of this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to Congress a written report describing the use of the Fund for the 1-year period preceding the submission of the report for the purposes described in subsection (a)(1) of such section 113, as amended by subsection (a) of this section, which shall include, with respect to the period covered by the report-- (A) the total amount of-- (i) loans, loan participations, and interests therein purchased from community development financial institutions; (ii) loans that support affordable housing construction; and (iii) guarantees, loan loss reserves, and other forms of credit enhancement provided to community development financial institutions; (B) the effect of the purchases and guarantees made by the Fund on the overall competitiveness of community development financial institutions; and (C) the impact of the purchases and guarantees made by the Fund on the liquidity of community development financial institutions. SEC. ___05. NATIVE CDFI RELENDING PROGRAM. Section 502 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(j) Set Aside for Native Community Development Financial Institutions.-- ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection-- ``(A) the term `Alaska Native' has the meaning given the term `Native' in section 3(b) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(b)); ``(B) the term `appropriate congressional committees' means-- ``(i) the Committee on Agriculture of the Senate; ``(ii) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate; ``(iii) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; ``(iv) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; ``(v) the Committee on Natural Resources of the