COVID-19 Resource Center
Development finance has always been at the forefront of recovering from natural disasters and economic challenges. The CDFA COVID-19 Resource Center is a collection of financing programs and resources to address disaster relief and recovery.
As the situation surrounding COVID-19 evolves, small businesses and communities across the country will very quickly face liquidity challenges, job losses, and project stagnation. Credit will be tightening and small businesses will struggle to make payroll while communities will be forced to scale back or halt infrastructure development. Moreover, communities are facing difficulties financing critical infrastructure such as health facilities, broadband networks, and testing centers to address local COVID-19 demands.
Development finance agencies are uniquely positioned to solve these challenges through pragmatic solutions and adjustments to existing initiatives. CDFA developed this COVID-19 Resource Center to serve as a central hub of everything the development finance world is doing to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
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COVID-19 Recovery & Relief Update newsletter for regular updates on relief and recovery financing initiatives.
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-CDFA's COVID-19 Comprehensive Recovery Strategy
Based on the input of our 500+ members, CDFA has developed a set of policy proposals that would allow state and local governments, through development finance agencies, to be immediate problem solvers that can help alleviate the extreme economic challenges facing small businesses and communities to put America securely on the path to recovery.
Read the Comprehensive Recovery Strategy
Unlock Capital for Small Business Immediately
To support small businesses, Congress and the Administration should:
- Reauthorize & Fund the State Small Business Credit Initiative
- Temporarily Remove Match Requirements from Certain Federal Programs
- Amend Existing Revolving Loan Funds
Pass Immediate Bond Financing Provisions
To support communities, Congress and the Administration should:
- Pass the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act (MAMBA)
- Create a Permanent Category of Disaster Recovery Bonds
Allocate Federal Funding Accordingly
- CDFI Fund - $1 billion to address critical community lending needs
- EDA - $500 million to seed new, flexible revolving loan funds and to provide direct technical assistance to communities hit hard by the crisis
- HUD - $2 billion to address urban disaster recovery due to small business losses
- USDA - $2 billion to address rural development stagnation and the loss of small businesses
-Weekly Development Finance COVID-19 Briefings
CDFA hosted weekly briefings about development finance COVID-19 news and resources. These one-hour phone calls featured legislative updates, news from our members, state and local financing strategies, and lessons learned from previous development finance responses to disasters.
CDFA's Weekly Development Finance COVID-19 Briefings were held every Friday at 1:00 PM (Eastern) through May 15, 2020:
-State Response Map
Click a state to view COVID-19 financing programs and related headlines.
-COVID-19 Recovery & Relief Resources
-Federal Resources
-State and Local Resources
Promoting Equity Investments for an Equitable RecoveryMembers only
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The Urban Institute set out to study how innovative policies and programs from abroad could inform state and local efforts in the US to advance an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. They produced five briefs, each profiling an approach from abroad that addresses a different policy priority: child care, broadband access, local economic development, parks and public space, and housing stability and affordability.
A Better Way to Spend COVID Relief Funds
Cities are currently grappling with how they should prioritize competing programs, initiatives, and ideas. SLFR funds are a once-in-a-generation opportunity and cities have to contend with balancing relief and recovery. While we can't observe the processes in every city, we pull out four emblematic examples that are at the forefront of emerging models of local recovery.
Disaster Resiliency and Recovery Resources: A Guide for Rural CommunitiesMembers only
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USDA Rural Development (RD) developed this guide as a resource for rural communities seeking disaster resiliency and recovery assistance. The recent National Climate Assessment (NCA) identifies that more frequent and extreme weather and climate-related events, as well as changes in average climate conditions, are expected to continue to damage infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits to communities.
The American Rescue Plan Can Be a Lifeline for Business Districts
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many small businesses in rural downtowns to urban commercial corridors already faced serious challenges, including decades of disinvestment, limited access to capital and broadband, brain drain, and competition from big-box and online retail. The American Rescue Plan Act —and particularly, its $350 billion in state and local funding—offers a lifeline for these struggling Main Streets.
COVID-19 Complicates Housing AffordabilityMembers only
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This research from Fitch Ratings examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated housing affordability. Issues that led to the persistent housing unaffordability preceded COVID-19. The pandemic caused an economic contraction felt among millions of Americans of many economic strata, and housing insecurity has only worsened for the most vulnerable.
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: Five Things Governments Need to Know
The U.S. Department of the Treasury published its interim final rule to implement the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and the Coronavirus Local Recovery Fund. The American Rescue Plan Act created the $350 billion recovery funds. To support governments in using money distributed from the recovery funds, the interim rule provides critical guidance regarding eligible uses of funds.
How Cities, States, and Tribes Can Boost Entrepreneurship via the American Rescue Plan
The COVID-19 crisis has put thousands of small businesses, from high-growth startups to Main Street employers, out of business. Importantly, the economic impacts of COVID-19 have not been equal. Minority-owned businesses and very small businesses are disproportionately concentrated in the industries most heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis such as restaurants, retail stores, and personal services.
American Rescue Plan Act - Local Relief Frequently Asked QuestionsMembers only
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After the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, it guaranteed direct relief to all 19,000 cities, towns, and villages in the United States. NLC has identified frequently asked questions about the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund grants, and has provided answers based on available information to help cities prepare while Treasury develops official guidance.
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-Webcasts
One Year into the Pandemic: New Evidence on How Small Businesses are Faring
The Urban Institute hosted this discussion about how small businesses are faring one year after the start of widespread economic shutdowns due to the pandemic. The webinar explored the disconnect between the fall in business activity and revenues, and generally positive small business credit and debt patterns. It also discussed what roles governments and philanthropic entities should play, including what work is needed to ensure businesses historically excluded from access to capital can have a prosperous future.
National SSBCI 2.0 Call - March 26, 2021
SSBCI was signed into law as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. CDFA hosted this National SSBCI 2.0 Call serving as an interface between Treasury and stakeholders during the rulemaking process. On March 26, 2021, we discussed insights and recommendations to Treasury and our understanding of what resources need to be developed.
National SSBCI 2.0 Call - March 11, 2021
SSBCI was signed into law as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. CDFA hosted this National SSBCI 2.0 Call with interested stakeholders on March 11, 2021, to discuss SSBCI 2.0. We discussed key SSBCI 2.0 questions and timelines. We also discussed CDFA's plans for SSBCI education and future engagement. Several states spoke about their efforts to re-launch SSBCI programming.
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