Mercy Loan Fund President Julie Gould signed on to the following letter supporting key CDFI programs:

Delays in implementation have cost the CDFI industry two, and possibly three, years of the id=”mce_marker” billion per year available through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program created in 2010. Join Opportunity Finance Network in urging Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to make an extension of the program, and the availability of the full amount authorized, a priority.

LETTER TO SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER ON CDFI BOND GUARANTEE PROGRAM

Dear Mr. Secretary:

The undersigned community development financial institutions and allies urge you to lead an effort to “reset the clock” on the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program so that it operates for the full four years Congress intended.

Congress and the President created the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program as a four-year pilot program, with $1 billion in guaranteed bond issuances for community and economic development purposes available per year in FY2011, FY2012, FY2013, and FY2014. The $4 billion provided through the Program represents the potential to stimulate lending in distressed markets, create and retain jobs, support small and community businesses, and help people hurt by the recession find safe, affordable housing.

The $2 billion in bond issuance authority for FY2011 and FY2012 is already lost. The authority for FY2013 is very much at risk, potentially leaving only the FY2014 bond issuance authority available. We ask the Obama Administration to work with the CDFI industry and its partners working in distressed markets in all 50 states to “reset the clock” and extend the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program to make up for lost opportunities.

Sincerely,

Julie Gould

President, Mercy Loan Fund