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.

The CDFI Fund Opens Inaugural Round of Capital Magnet Fund
Last week, the CDFI Fund opened the inaugural round of the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). Opportunity Finance Network fought for the establishment of the CMF in 2008 to provide a new, permanent source of capital targeted at affordable housing and related activities, and the FY2010 appropriations process made $80 million available to the Fund for the program.

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