Scaling Community Lenders Act of 2022
Bill: S.4537 | Sponsor: Sen. Warner, Mark R. (D-VA)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Scaling Community Lenders Act of 2022
This bill allows the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to provide 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.

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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Scaling Community Lenders Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 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) 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, 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, 
        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, or 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.
    ``(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) Annual Reports.--
            (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), and annually thereafter through 2028, 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; 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.
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