Letters to Congress: Make New Investments in the Pell Grant Program
AFR joined a letter urging appropriators to make bold new investments in the Pell Grant program.
Tag Archives: racial justice
Letters to Regulators: Letters to the IRS and Treasury and the CFPB on Medical Debt
AFREF joined two letters – one to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Treasury, and one to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – urging the Biden-Harris Administration to do more to relieve medical debt for tens of millions of people. The letters, signed by more than 60 organizations, include specific executive actions the administration can take to address medical debt.
Letters to the Administration: Letter to the White House Task Force on New Americans on Language Access
AFREF joined a letter to the White House Task Force on New Americans Financial Access and Education Subcommittee urging them to incorporate policies that would explicitly expand language access within the financial services sector.
Letters to Regulators: Federal Reserve Must Finalize Climate Guidance for Banks with Strong Fair Lending Protections
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) submitted letters to the Federal Reserve Board on its recent climate guidance for large banks. A coalition letter signed by 24 organizations urged the Fed to include enhanced safeguards and monitoring around fair lending violations, racial and economic
Amicus Brief: Uphold the President’s Cancellation of Student Debt
AFR joined partners as amici in urging the United State Supreme Court in upholding the President’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for borrowers. This cancellation has the power to shift the racial wealth gap, free borrowers of the weight of student loan debt and potentially plant BIPOC communities on even ground with their white counterparts.
Letters to Regulators: EPA Must Maximize Benefits For Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities With Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) submitted two comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to their request for information on the administration and implementation of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF), a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
News Release: Fed Takes Critical First Step in Managing Banks’ Climate Risk
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 2, 2022 CONTACT Carter Dougherty carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org (202) 251-6700 Fed Takes Critical First Step in Managing Banks’ Climate Risk WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Reserve today proposed climate-related supervisory guidance for major banks that represents an important and long overdue step to
Letters: Letter Calling on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Drop Lawsuit Against the CFPB
AFREF led a letter calling on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the banking associations to drop the lawsuit against the CFPB that would allow them to discriminate against similarly situated BIPOC communities. The lawsuit focuses on the Bureau’s warning that the federal prohibition on unfair practices covers discrimination, and that the Bureau will be using its examination authority to look for and address unlawful discrimination in financial services, including in areas outside of lending, The CFPB was well within its authority to take these actions. Discrimination is unfair and unlawful, and it should have no place in our financial system.
Letters to Regulators: CFTC Must Address Climate Risk, Carbon Offsets
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) submitted two comments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in response to their request for information on climate-related financial risk as pertinent to the derivatives markets and underlying commodities markets. A coalition letter submitted jointly by AFREF, Amazon Watch,
Letters to Regulators: Letter Telling Fannie and Freddie to Finance Affordable Housing, Not Displacement
AFREF and 34 allies sent a letter regarding the Safety and Soundness Act, which requires FHFA to establish annual housing goals for mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises). This letter supports the proposal’s move towards a methodology that focuses on the percentage, not number, of affordable housing units financed by the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). However, the proposal fails to hold the GSEs to adequate lending standards and refine what counts as affordable housing units.
This letter seeks policy reforms that will prevent GSEs from financing loans that contribute to displacement and substandard living conditions for low income tenants and tenants of color. It also objects to FHFA goals being set at levels that are below recent performance by the Enterprises.