Scaling Community Lenders Act of 2023

To amend the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to adjust for inflation the maximum amount of assistance provided by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Scaling Community Lenders Act of 2023 2. 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 (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, 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) ; (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 $20,000,000 (B) by striking during any 3-year period (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. (h) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $100,000,000 to carry out this section, including to carry out a study on the options to increase community development financial institution liquidity and secondary market opportunities. . (b) Emergency Capital Investment Funds Section 104A of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 ( 12 U.S.C. 4703a (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 (1) Definitions In this subsection, the terms community development financial institution Fund 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 (A) the total amount of— (i) loans, loan participations, and interests therein purchased from community development financial institutions; and (ii) 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.

Summary: Scaling Community Lenders Act of 2023 This bill allows the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to provide funds for guarantees, loan loss reserves, or other forms of credit to promote liquidity for Community Development Financial Institutions. The bill also removes matching requirements, establishes eligibility requirements and projects prioritization, and increases the cap on the allowed assistance available to an organization. The bill also allows the Emergency Capital Investment Fund to provide assistance for these purposes.