Toomey Requests GAO Review of Recent Massive Hike in CDFI Funding

Washington, D.C. – Ahead of tomorrow’s U.S. Senate Banking subcommittee hearing on Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is requesting the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) review Treasury’s allocation of the unprecedented levels of taxpayer money given to CDFIs last year.

As Ranking Member Toomey notes in his letter, Congress provided $12 billion in taxpayer dollars to benefit CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) in 2021—more than 40 times the size of any prior annual appropriation to the CDFI Fund.

“Given the unprecedented amounts of taxpayer resources Congress directed to Treasury, CDFIs, and MDIs for pandemic response, it is vital policymakers know how effective these programs have been in helping to revitalize distressed areas and fill any gaps in access to credit for small businesses, as the program was originally intended to do,” Ranking Member Toomey wrote.

Senator Toomey requested GAO examine how the Department of the Treasury allocated such funding, how the recipients used the funding, and what mechanisms are in place to evaluate the funding’s effectiveness.

To read the full letter to GAO, click here.

###

• Print
• Email
• Tweet