Throughout 2021, CDFA has focused on four key concepts: Restore, Preserve, Invest, and Protect. These themes formed the basis of our work this past year and will guide our discussions during the upcoming Summit. Day 1 of the Virtual National Summit will focus on Restoring Local Economies Through Development Finance and recently enacted legislation such as the American Rescue Plan. Join us in November to find new ways of helping your community with development finance!

President Biden's trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure plan suffered a significant setback late Thursday night when House Democratic leaders, short of support amid a liberal revolt, put off a planned vote on a crucial piece of their domestic agenda. Democratic leaders and supporters of the bill insisted the postponement was only a temporary setback.

The Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All (DASH) Act was introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. Among the bill's provisions are: lowering the private activity bond financing threshold from 50% to 25%; an expansion of the 9% low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC); basis boost provisions targeting extremely low-income households, rural and Native American communities; and the creation of 5% and 2% middle-incoming housing tax credits (MIHTCs).

After weeks of rising tensions among congressional Democrats, President Joe Biden is stepping in Wednesday to personally attempt to resolve divisions that are threatening to tear the Democratic caucus apart and tank the president's first-term domestic agenda. Biden is hosting key members of at least four warring factions of Democrats in Congress on Wednesday afternoon.

U.S. Senators Deb Fischer and Amy Klobuchar introduced the Precision Agriculture Loan (PAL) Act. The bipartisan legislation would create a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide loan financing to farmers and ranchers interested in purchasing precision agriculture equipment.

Sen. Michael Bennet has proposed legislation that would make the meaningful investments needed in our forests, rangelands, and watersheds by encouraging partnerships between federal, state, and tribal agencies. The House just put it into the budget reconciliation bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, providing $40 billion to restore our forests, improve wildlife habitat, while creating millions of good-paying jobs in rural areas.

The House Ways and Means Committee approved its portion of the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better reconciliation legislation, which includes the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act. Novogradac analyzed several primary low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) unit financing provisions in the reconciliation bill and found that an estimated 1,380,500 additional affordable rental homes could be financed over 10 years if the bill were enacted.

The House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday approved a major portion of Democrats' $3.5 trillion social spending package, including provisions that would raise taxes on high-income individuals and corporations in order to offset the cost of new spending. It would expand infrastructure financing tools, expand the low-income housing tax credit and extend and expand renewable energy tax credits.

On September 27, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a Notice Regarding Applications for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The notice provides information regarding the requirements and timeline for applications and pertains to funding for both Capital Programs and Technical Assistance. Key takeaways are noted on CDFA's SSBCI Fact Sheet and FAQs. CDFA members can join the next SSBCI Coalition meeting for free and learn more about the implications of this notice.

USDA announced a comprehensive set of investments to address challenges facing America's agricultural producers. These include assistance to address challenges and costs associated with drought, animal health, market disruptions for agricultural commodities, and school food supply chain issues. Secretary Vilsack also outlined and requested public comments on a new climate partnership initiative designed to create new revenue streams for producers via market opportunities.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund this week reported that it tentatively plans to open the calendar year 2021 (CY 2021) new markets tax credit (NMTC) allocation application round this fall and added that the round will include a 14-day period for community development entities (CDEs) to submit their certification if they are not currently certified.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo announced that 50 organizations — including nonprofits, institutions of higher education, state government agencies, and other entrepreneurship-focused organizations — from 26 states will receive grants totaling $36.5 million to support programs that fuel innovation and tech-based economic development.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund announced today the approval of a $100 million guarantee under the fiscal year 2020 round of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Bond Guarantee Program. The guarantee will be issued to the Community Reinvestment Fund, USA on behalf of Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded more than $10.8 million in grants to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), through the fiscal year (FY) 2021 round of the Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program), to help expand consumer access to financial institutions by providing alternatives to high cost small dollar lending.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund awarded 191 organizations more than $24.1 million in awards from the fiscal year 2021 CDFI Program and Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program. The Technical Assistance Awards will allow CDFIs and emerging CDFIs to build their capacity to provide services to low-income and underserved people and communities across America.

HUD has issued the HOME-ARP Implementing CPD Notice, Requirements for the Use of Funds in the HOME-American Rescue Plan Program. The new HOME-ARP notice is a critical step taken by HUD to expeditiously allow communities to begin accessing funds from the nearly $5 billion funds allocated from the American Rescue Plan.

USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson unveiled a resource guide as part of National Preparedness Month to help rural communities seeking disaster resiliency and recovery assistance. This guide follows the Biden-Harris Administration's announcement of the American Jobs Plan, which targets investments to support infrastructure in communities that are most physically and financially vulnerable to climate-driven disasters.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its latest research on innovative strategies being pursued by state and local governments to remove regulatory barriers to affordable housing and increase housing supply. In this article, Pam Blumenthal and Regina Gray discuss the impact of regulatory barriers on housing affordability.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the Solar Futures Study detailing the significant role solar will play in decarbonizing the nation's power grid. The study shows that by 2035, solar energy has the potential to power 40% of the nation's electricity, drive deep decarbonization of the grid, and employ as many as 1.5 million people—without raising electricity prices.