SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

No. 111

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 3, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Senator  TROY SINGLETON

District 7 (Burlington)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Urges withdrawal of advance notice of proposed rulemaking on Community Reinvestment Act.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


A Joint Resolution urging withdrawal of the advance notice of proposed rulemaking on the Community Reinvestment Act.

 

Whereas, The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was enacted by Congress and the President in 1977 to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, consistent with sound banking operations; and

Whereas, The CRA requires federal regulators to periodically evaluate federally-insured depository institutions’ records in meeting the credit needs of their entire communities; and

Whereas, In August of 2018, one of those regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the Department of the Treasury, released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking to modernize the regulatory framework implementing the CRA; and

Whereas, The ANPR would change many aspects of how the CRA currently operates, including how banks are evaluated on their reinvestment activities; and

Whereas, The CRA has been a critical tool in working to end the practice of redlining, the discriminatory practice of sectioning off areas where banks would avoid investments based on community demographics; and

Whereas, Redlining hurts many low and moderate-income communities, particularly communities of color, by denying them access to financial services; and

Whereas, Community groups have negotiated CRA agreements with many financial institutions in New Jersey, which have resulted in people and small businesses throughout the State receiving below-market rate mortgages, discounted home improvement loans, affordable consumer lending products, financing for affordable housing, and small business loans for women and minority owned businesses; and

Whereas, The ANPR threatens to rollback this progress by eliminating most current CRA requirements for financial institutions, and allowing them to self-police; and

Whereas, Community groups caution that the changes will reduce access to loans and banking services for lower-income individuals and small businesses; and

Whereas, The ANPR will undermine the original intent of the CRA, and will harm low and moderate-income people in New Jersey and across the United States; and

Whereas, It is fitting and proper to urge the OCC to withdraw the ANPR, and to instead collaborate with stakeholders and regulators to improve the CRA for the good of New Jersey’s communities; now, therefore,

 

            Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    The Governor and Legislature of New Jersey respectfully urge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to withdraw the advance notice of proposed rulemaking on the Community Reinvestment Act, and to instead collaborate with stakeholders and regulators to improve that act for the good of New Jersey’s communities. 

 

     2.    Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the United States Department of the Treasury.

 

     3.    This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This joint resolution urges the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to withdraw its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Community Reinvestment Act.

     The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was enacted by Congress in 1977 to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, consistent with sound banking operations.  In August of 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) that would change many aspects of how the CRA operates, including how banks are evaluated on their reinvestment activities. 

     The changes threaten to roll back the progress accomplished under the CRA by eliminating many current requirements for financial institutions.  Community groups caution that the ANPR, if approved, will reduce access to loans and banking services for lower-income individuals and small businesses.

     Pursuant to this joint resolution, the Governor and Legislature of New Jersey respectfully urge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to withdraw the ANPR on the Community Reinvestment Act, and to instead collaborate with stakeholders and regulators to improve that act for the good of New Jersey’s communities.