House Democrats Seek More Time For Public Comment On CRA Rewrite
By CU Today Staff —
WASHINGTON—Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee are calling on federal banking regulators to more than double the public comment period on proposed changes to Community Reinvestment Act rules, arguing the sweeping proposal needs additional scrutiny before regulators move forward.
Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) and every other Democrat on the committee asked FDIC Chairman Travis Hill and Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould to extend the comment period to at least 120 days. The current deadline is Oct. 13.
The request comes nearly two months after the FDIC and OCC proposed changes that would raise the threshold for an "intermediate bank” to more than $10 billion in assets, up from $1.65 billion; exempt banks newly classified as intermediate banks from certain data collection and reporting requirements; focus CRA evaluations more heavily on lending; and exclude deposit services from the retail banking services considered by examiners. The agencies have said the changes are intended to reduce regulatory burden, particularly for community banks, and better align CRA rules with the law’s statutory purpose.
The Democrats said the proposal, which runs more than 400 pages in its published form, could reduce the number of banks evaluated for community development activities and alter incentives for affordable housing and other community investment. They also pointed to more than 375 financial institutions, religious organizations, small businesses, local governments and community groups that have raised concerns about the proposal and sought more time for analysis.
“As we and other stakeholders analyze this new proposal, we request that the public comment period be extended to no less than 120 days to give members of the public more time for substantive review and comment on this sweeping proposal,” the lawmakers wrote.
The proposal is the latest turn in a years-long effort to rewrite CRA regulations. Rules adopted by the OCC, FDIC and Federal Reserve in 2023 were blocked by a federal court before taking effect and later targeted for rescission under the Trump Administration.
Originally reported by CU Today.