[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7338 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7338

 To establish an Office of the Community Development Advocate for the 
   Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, to establish a 
    process for decertification of community development financial 
                 institutions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2024

    Mr. Nunn of Iowa (for himself and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish an Office of the Community Development Advocate for the 
   Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, to establish a 
    process for decertification of community development financial 
                 institutions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Credit Access Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) community development financial institutions are 
        financial institutions that seek to expand economic opportunity 
        in underserved rural investment areas and low-income 
        communities by providing access to financial products and 
        services for local residents and businesses that otherwise may 
        not be accessible;
            (2) certification as a community development financial 
        institution allows an institution to engage several programs 
        outside of the Community Development Financial Institutions 
        Fund to further support the communities they serve;
            (3) the Department of the Treasury must continue to support 
        community development financial institutions by standing up an 
        ombudsman office and creating an orderly and transparent 
        process for decertification so as to not cause unintentional 
        harm to the communities they serve; and
            (4) the establishment of such an office and process should 
        only serve to provide certainty and clarity for community 
        development financial institutions, not to reduce available 
        funds for the substantive work of such institutions, and as 
        such, appropriate support for the Fund to accomplish this goal 
        must be made available.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OFFICE OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 
              ADVOCATE THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 
              FUND.

    (a) Ombudsman for the Community Development Financial Institutions 
Fund.--Section 104 of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory 
Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4703) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(l) Office of the Community Development Advocate.--
            ``(1) Designation.--The Administrator shall establish in 
        the Fund an Office of the Community Development Advocate (in 
        this subsection referred to as the `Office').
            ``(2) Community development advocate.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The head of the Office shall be 
                the Community Development Advocate who shall--
                            ``(i) report directly to the Administrator; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) be appointed by the Administrator 
                        from among individuals having experience in 
                        advocating to expand economic opportunity for 
                        targeted populations and investment areas.
                    ``(B) Compensation.--The annual rate of pay for the 
                Community Development Advocate shall be equal to the 
                highest rate of annual pay for other senior executives 
                who report to the Administrator.
                    ``(C) Limitation on service.--An individual who 
                serves as the Community Development Advocate may not be 
                employed by the Administrator--
                            ``(i) during the 2-year period ending on 
                        the date of appointment as Community 
                        Development Advocate; or
                            ``(ii) during the 5-year period beginning 
                        on the date on which the person ceases to serve 
                        as the Community Development Advocate.
            ``(3) Staff of office.--The Community Development Advocate 
        may retain or employ independent counsel, research staff, and 
        service staff, as the Community Development Advocate deems 
        necessary to carry out the functions and duties of the Office.
            ``(4) Duties.--The Community Development Advocate shall 
        ensure that community development financial institutions 
        provide safe and affordable financial products and services to 
        targeted populations and investment areas. Such duties may 
        include the following:
                    ``(A) Collecting, addressing, and documenting 
                complaints from institutions about--
                            ``(i) the process of becoming a certified 
                        community development financial institution; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the process of applying for grants 
                        or programs of the Fund.
                    ``(B) Working with the Administrator and 
                institutions to address complaints where possible, 
                including the following:
                            ``(i) Obtaining clarity relating to 
                        determinations or notices of noncompliance of 
                        an institution.
                            ``(ii) Ensuring reasonable responsiveness 
                        of the Administrator to inquiries from 
                        institutions.
                            ``(iii) Facilitating coordination between 
                        the Administrator and appropriate Federal 
                        banking agencies to ensure full understanding 
                        of issues related to safety and soundness of 
                        community development financial institutions or 
                        legal and regulatory obligations of such 
                        institutions.
                            ``(iv) Ensuring that community development 
                        financial institutions have timely access to 
                        technical assistance for application systems 
                        administered by the Administrator.
                    ``(C) Assess the efficiency and efficacy of the 
                certification and application processes described in 
                subparagraph (A) and assess whether the Fund has 
                adequate resources for the number of applicants.
            ``(5) Report.--The Community Development Advocate shall 
        submit to Congress, the Administrator, and the Community 
        Development Advisory Board an annual report that includes--
                    ``(A) an assessment of the responsiveness of the 
                Administrator to inquiries from community development 
                financial institutions;
                    ``(B) an assessment of the length of time taken to 
                review applications for certification or 
                recertification from such institutions;
                    ``(C) the results of the assessments conducted 
                under paragraph (4)(C); and
                    ``(D) such other information, as determined by the 
                Community Development Advocate.''.

SEC. 4. PROCESS FOR DECERTIFICATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL 
              INSTITUTIONS.

    Section 119(a) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory 
Improvement Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4717) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Decertification.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Administrator 
        shall promulgate regulations to establish a process for 
        revoking the certification of a community development financial 
        institution under this Act. Such process shall include--
                    ``(A) provision of clear, written guidance from the 
                Administrator regarding what constitutes noncompliance 
                that would result in the revocation of a certification;
                    ``(B) the provision of meaningful, detailed, and 
                individualized notice of noncompliance to the 
                institution;
                    ``(C) identification in such notice of a reasonable 
                period to allow the institution to cure such 
                noncompliance, which period may be extended by the 
                Administrator, in consultation with the Community 
                Development Advocate;
                    ``(D) if the Administrator provides a notice to an 
                institution describing noncompliance relating to fraud 
                or misrepresentation of the institution, streamlined 
                processes for decertification of such institution;
                    ``(E) provision of the contact information for the 
                Office of Ombudsman; and
                    ``(F) a wind-down process for a community 
                development financial institution for which 
                certification has been revoked, established in 
                consultation with the appropriate Federal banking 
                agency (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit 
                Insurance Act), to ensure the safety and soundness of 
                the United States financial system.''.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to the 
Administrator of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund 
to carry out this section.
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