- Reconciliation bill passes House, moves to Senate - Judge pauses some federal layoffs - HUD offers CoCBuilds grants - Digital equity programs serving rural residents are canceled - Rural fundraising webinar offered - Rural rental preservation training sessions set And more in this week's #HACNews: https://loom.ly/rE6jG4w (fb)

🏦 Community Reinvestment Act: Keeping Rural Communities in Focus As banks consolidate their physical branches and financial services move online, rural areas are at risk of being overlooked. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) plays a crucial role in ensuring this doesn’t happen by requiring federally insured depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of their entire communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. HAC supports proposals to strengthen the CRA’s impact in rural America, including: - Incentivizing large and intermediate-sized banks to increase affordable housing and community development investments in rural areas - Creating a nationwide assessment area for evaluating bank community development activities - Providing special recognition in CRA examinations for investments in persistent poverty counties and areas with limited community development financing These updates will help ensure rural communities continue to have access to the capital needed for housing and economic development as the financial landscape changes. Learn more in HAC’s 2025 Policy Priorities: https://loom.ly/qn0uWVg #RuralHousing #CommunityReinvestment #RuralDevelopment #HAC (fb)