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WHEREAS, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was passed in 1977 as part of an effort to mitigate the effects of systematic redlining and corrosive deleterious under-investment in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and communities of color by mandating that banks and related financial institutions lend and offer services in a manner that's equitable, as well as back community development initiatives, in the very areas where they conduct their business; and
WHEREAS, as the CRA currently reads, "regulated financial institutions have continuing and affirmative obligations to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered," which speaks to the regulatory regime that the CRA created that monitors lending, investments, and services in low- and moderate-income communities that have historically been marginalized and too often left behind and subsequently assigns "grades" to lending institutions based on their performance in said communities; and
WHEREAS, banking and lending activity data analyzed by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) shows that since 1996, CRA-covered banks issued almost $1.16 trillion worth of loans to close to 29 million small businesses and nearly $1.18 trillion worth of community development loans that went toward economic development projects and affordable housing initiatives, all in low- and moderate-income communities. Locally, the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG), the region's CRA watchdog and advocacy entity composed of a multi-sector coalition dedicated to economic justice and equitable neighborhood revitalization, shows about $5 billion invested in community development; and
WHEREAS, home loans issued through the CRA are demonstrably safer than independently-issued financial products and neighborhoods with higher rates of CRA-covered lending than alternative options enjoy lower delinquency rates; and
WHEREAS, while the CRA should be modernized to account for online ...
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