CDFA, in partnership with Ice Miller LLP, is proud to present the Broadband Financing Series! The Broadband Financing Series consists of five specialized videos that discuss broadband development with an emphasis on the legal, technical, and financial challenges facing communities working to improve their broadband infrastructure.

The U.S. Small Business Administration reached a milestone in the success of the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which has provided U.S. small businesses, non-profits, and agricultural businesses a total of $200 billion in emergency funding.

How can five different groups of Opportunity Zone stakeholders come together to make the program a success? And what can we expect the Biden administration to do with Opportunity Zones? This podcast from OpportunityDb features Ira Weinstein, managing principal and Opportunity Zones practice leader with CDFA Member CohnReznick, as well as Steve Glickman, the founder and CEO of Develop LLC.

The incoming Biden/Harris administration has signaled that it has big plans for rural America. But according to a report from the Brookings Institute, the tools that make up federal rural strategy are themselves in need of a makeover.

The U.S. EPA announced three contract awards for the clean-up of more than 50 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation on Thursday, worth up to $220 million over the next five years. Work is scheduled to begin later this year following the completion of assessments in coordination with the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency.

For an example of how negative real interest rates are distorting prices, behold the municipal bond market. Last month investors snapped up $560 million in bonds issued by junk-rated Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The district's 10-year bonds were priced at 1.94% and the 20-year at 2.24%—a mere 117 to 105 basis points above the AAA muni benchmark yields. As the district's finances have deteriorated, its borrowing costs have plunged.

In a new report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the municipal bond market, the MSRB found market resilience in the face of unprecedented volatility. The MSRB found unprecedented municipal mutual fund outflows in March 2020, but net inflows of $39 billion by the end of the year, as well as a return to lower rates following significant market dislocation in March 2020.

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This interactive data tool from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows total SSBCI investments, percent of investments in LMI and rural areas, investments by MSA, investments by loan programs, CDFIs, and more.

This resource guide from the Build America Bureau covers the objectives and provides an overview of how the TIFIA and RRIF credit programs operate. This includes details about the required terms for individual credit instruments, how these instruments are funded, eligibility requirements concerning types of projects, activities, cost limits, and applicants, the process by which potential applicants may apply for credit assistance, and more.

The following questions and answers document describes actions that can be taken by HUD and communities to assist Section 108 business borrowers experiencing economic distress as a result of coronavirus.

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