ImpactAlpha, July 30 – ImpactAlpha is working with the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance to keep Agents of Impact apprised of policy developments. Among this week’s crop:
- Beyond coal. The American Rescue Plan in March allocated $3 billion to support workers and underserved communities hit hardest by the pandemic through the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration. Among its plans: A $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge and $300 million for new opportunities in coal communities.
- Native housing. The House Financial Services Committee hosted a hearing on increasing access to safe and affordable housing for Indigenous communities through the reauthorization of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act.
- Banking the unbanked. That Black, Native and rural communities pay more due to lack of access to the nation’s payment systems, “is not a problem of technology. It’s a problem of policy,” UC Irvine’s Mehrsa Baradaran said at a House hearing. The Comptroller of the Currency said it would rescind its Trump-era CRA rules and work with the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to strengthen and modernize the CRA.
