CDFA is pleased to announce that Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) have introduced a bill to reauthorize the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) in the U.S. Senate as S. 258. CDFA has worked closely with these offices to stress the importance of recapitalizing state programs that had expired in 2017 to bring immediate support to small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers, bond lawyers, and other proponents of tax-exempt refunding bonds are hopeful Congress will reinstate the instruments, bolstered by comments made by recently-confirmed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Secretary Buttigieg has said reinstating tax-exempt advance refunding bonds holds promise as a source of relief for local governments.

The U.S. Small Business Administration and lenders are taking more strides to improve the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) so that small businesses can access much-needed PPP funds to persevere through the pandemic, recover, and build back better. The Administration is working with the Agency to increase equitable access to underserved small businesses, to assure the integrity of the program, and to promote the rapid and efficient distribution of funds.

The USDA is responding to President Biden's call for all parts of the federal government to contribute resources — facilities, personnel, and expertise — to contain the pandemic. The USDA is offering its personnel, facilities, cold chain infrastructure, public health experts, disaster response specialists, and footprint in rural areas and tribal communities across the country to help contain the pandemic and get the economy back on track.

The National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, and The U.S. Conference of Mayors welcomed the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee's State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds legislation - to be considered as part of a comprehensive COVID-19 federal package. The bill includes $350 billion in critical aid to state, local, and territorial governments.

U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow reintroduced legislation to support lending to small businesses in Michigan and across the country that have been hardest hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Small Business Access to Capital Act would reauthorize and provide $10 billion in federal funding to the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which helps small businesses grow and create jobs.

The United States economy will return to its pre-pandemic size by the middle of this year, even if Congress does not approve any more federal money to aid the recovery, the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday. But it will be years before everyone thrown off the job by the coronavirus can return to work.

CDFA Legislative Briefing
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 - 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Eastern

Intro Tax Increment Finance WebCourse
March 24-25, 2021 - Daily: 12:00-5:00 PM Eastern

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To address local disparities and help struggling areas thrive, governments at all levels have spent billions of dollars on a range of geographically targeted, or "place-based," economic development programs — mostly in the form of financial incentives — designed to boost job creation and business investment, incentivize real estate development, or increase property values in specific places. The Pew Charitable Trusts performed a literature review of more than 100 studies to better understand the reasons for lack of effectiveness of place-based programs.

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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