President Obama Releases Fiscal year 2011 Budget Proposal
In his budget proposal released February 1, President Barack Obama included $250 million for the CDFI Fund for FY2011. This proposal comes on the heels of a doubling of appropriations for the Fund in FY2010, and reflects a continued strong level of support for the CDFI Fund by the Obama administration. The budget proposal represents the first step in approval of funding for the CDFI Fund in FY2011; in the coming months, Congress will take up appropriations legislation that may or may not conform to the President’s proposal. Specific information from the budget on the CDFI Fund can be viewed here. OFN has also created a list of proposed funding levels for other programs of interest to CDFIs.

The 2009 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) State Legislation and Advocacy Guide is now available for download! This rich resource, now in its fourth year of publication, tracked legislation across a broad range of categories in which CDFIs are active participants. This year, the guide contains nearly 300 bills, as well as analysis of regional, year-to-year, and cumulative trends, as well as separate sections dedicated to analyzing subject matter areas of significant relevance to the CDFI industry including asset accumulation, affordable housing, mortgage lending, small business development, and others.

CDFI Fund Awards more than $25 million to OFN Members!
On October 2, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell announced $53 million in financial assistance grants to build the capacity of 62 CDFIs in 24 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico under the Fiscal Year 2009 supplemental funding round. Today's announcement completes the FY 2009 funding round by awarding the remaining appropriated funds to applicants that submitted applications in response to the supplemental Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) published on April 28, 2009 in the Federal Register; and applicants that applied under the initial FY 2009 NOFA published on August 15, 2008 but did not receive a Recovery Act award in the first funding announcement.