The undersigned 65 organizations respectfully request your help for a $25 million appropriation

Honorable Andrea Stewart Cousins Temporary President and Majority Leader, nyc State Senate 188 State Street area 907, Legislative Office Building Albany, NY 12247

The undersigned 65 companies respectfully request your support for the $25 million appropriation to finance the brand new York State Community developing standard bank Fund (NYS CDFI Fund). In 2007, nyc State established a CDFI Fund on the basis of the successful federal CDFI Fund to offer funds and opportunities to New York CDFIs, which provide New Yorkers and small enterprises in economically troubled communities through the state. New York’s ended up being the very first state based CDFI Fund in the united states. Unfortuitously, the NYS CDFI Fund has yet to get any financing from the state. Help for CDFIs is just a fire that is sure for building strong neighborhood and local economies and ensuring use of sound and affordable monetary solutions throughout ny State.

While you understand, traditional banking institutions aren’t acceptably fulfilling the monetary solutions needs of New York’s income that is low immigrant communities and communities of color. Whenever asked just exactly just how interested banks are in serving their households, around one quarter of black colored and Latino New Yorkers respond, ‘Not at all,’ when compared with simply 13per cent of white New Yorkers with this specific response. 1 over time, payday lenders as well as other high expense economic solutions organizations have actually tried to exploit this space, including by pushing ny to legalize lending that is usurious.

Ny is certainly one of 16 states, plus Washington, D.C., that effectively forbids lending that is payday. In states where predatory lending that is payday allowed, low income folks of color constitute a disproportionately big section of how many payday loans can you have in Arkansas borrowers. And older grownups, including Social safety recipients that are prime goals for payday loan providers, are a particularly fast growing section of cash advance borrowers. Notwithstanding extensive litigation and enforcement actions because of the nyc State Attorney General and Department of Financial solutions to split down on unlawful payday lending and despite vehement, ongoing pushback by work, civil liberties, community, faith based, and customer teams the industry has persisted with its flagrant effort.

Meanwhile, brand New York’s CDFIs, including Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs), are supplying affordable economic solutions and making equitable assets in low earnings and immigrant communities and communities of color for the state.

With 82 CDFIs serving every county when you look at the state, nyc gets the 2nd greatest concentration of CDFIs in the united states. Brand brand New York’s CDFIs offer equitable economic solutions in communities perhaps perhaps maybe not offered by conventional banking institutions, assisting low earnings New Yorkers establish savings and credit, and build wide range. In addition they help brand brand New York’s small enterprises the financial lifeblood of numerous low earnings and immigrant areas and areas of color supplying vital loans, opportunities, economic solutions, and counseling that is financial.

Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs), in specific, assist income that is low develop assets by giving cost cost savings vehicles, credit rating, and house mortgages. Because CDCUs are community based monetary cooperatives, they add to neighborhood security that is economic protect cash and resources into the communities they provide, particularly low earnings communities of color and immigrant communities.

In 2015 alone, brand brand New York CDFIs offered $2.5 billion in funding to more than 100,000 New Yorkers, including to people, small businesses, affordable housing developers, yet others. CDFIs offer tremendous bang for money: Because CDFIs leverage every general public dollar with 12 extra bucks off their sources, >the proposed $25 million spending plan allocation would leverage a lot more than $300 million in direct financing and solutions to New York’s underserved communities. Strengthening brand brand New York’s CDFIs is really a main plank for the NYS Community Equity Agenda, a platform that is affirmative advancing monetary justice and financial democracy throughout NYS and represents a vital counterweight to present efforts to legalize predatory payday as well as other high price financing in ny.

For the reasons stated above, we strongly urge you to definitely help a $25 million allocation into the FY2020 budget towards the NYS CDFI Fund.Thank you for the consideration.

AARP Adirondack North nation Association Align ANHD Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association The Ebony Institute Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A Brooklyn motion Center BWICA Education Fund, Inc. Carroll Gardens Association The Center for Family lifestyle Center for NYC Neighborhoods Chhaya CDC correspondence employees of America, District One Community developing venture at Urban Justice Center Cooperation Buffalo Cooperative Federal Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation Erasmus Neighborhood Federation, Inc. Faith in ny The Financial Clinic Fiscal Policy Institute Fordham Law class Feerick Center for personal Justice Genesee Co op FCU good old fashioned Lower East Side (GOLES) Habitat for Humanity new york Habitat for Humanity new york Community Fund Housing and Family Services of better nyc, Inc. Inclusiv (previously The nationwide Federation of Community Development Credit Unions) Interfaith target Corporate Responsibility JASA/Legal Services for older people in Queens Latino Justice PRLDEF The Legal help Society LISC NYC longer Island Housing solutions, Inc. longer Island Progressive Coalition Lower East Side People’s FCU Mobilization for Justice, Inc. Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners brand brand brand New Economy venture new york Anti Violence venture New York City system of Worker Cooperatives brand brand New York Communities for Change ny StateWide Senior Action Council New Yorkers for accountable Lending NY Working Families NYC Employment and Training Coalition NYPIRG Pan African Community Development Initiative Partnership when it comes to Public Good DRIVE Buffalo Restaurant Opportunities Center of brand new York Southern Bronx Unite Teamsters Local 237 Tompkins County Workers’ Center Ujima Co., Inc. Unemployment Action Center Urban Homesteading Assistance Board The WASH Venture Westchester Household Opportunities, Inc. Western Ny Law Center The Working World

cc: The Honorable Liz Krueger, Seat, NYS Senate Finance Committee The Honorable Anna Kaplan, Seat, NYS Senate Commerce, Economic Developing, and Small Company Committee The Honorable James Sanders, Jr., Seat, NYS Senate Banks Committee The Honorable Kevin Thomas, Seat, NYS Senate Customer Protection Committee