The New Media Journal | Democrats Push to Expanded Community Reinvestment Act

The New Media Journal | Democrats Push to Expanded Community Reinvestment Act: "A number of experts believe that aggressive enforcement of the 1970s-era Community Reinvestment Act contributed to the mortgage meltdown, and thus to the greater financial crisis, by requiring financial institutions to lend to unqualified borrowers. Now, the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives is responding to that situation by proposing to expand the scope and power of the Community Reinvestment Act.

This morning House Financial Services Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank held a hearing on HR1479, the 'Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2009.' The bill's purpose is 'to close the wealth gap in the United States' by increasing 'home ownership and small business ownership for low- and moderate-income borrowers and persons of color.' It would extend CRA's strict lending requirements to non-bank institutions like credit unions, insurance companies, and mortgage lenders. It would also make CRA more explicitly race-based by requiring CRA standards to be applied to minorities, regardless of income, going beyond earlier requirements that applied solely to low- and moderate-income areas.

Republicans on the committee strongly oppose the plan. 'Instead of looking to expand the number of institutions that must abide by Community Investment Act regulations,' California Rep. Ed Royce said in prepared opening remarks at today's hearing, 'I think we should reassess the role this and other government mandates played in the financial collapse and consider scaling it back.'

In private conversation, other Republicans were more emphatic. 'There is clearly arguable evidence that the CRA is at the root of this financial meltdown,' says one GOP committee member. 'So what do they do? They try to expand CRA.'"