[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2092 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2092
To permanently authorize the Native Community Development Financial
Institutions lending program of the Department of Agriculture, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 16, 2021
Ms. Smith (for herself, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Thune, Mr. Tester, Mr. Cramer,
and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permanently authorize the Native Community Development Financial
Institutions lending program of the Department of Agriculture, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Native American Rural Homeownership
Improvement Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. NATIVE CDFI RELENDING PROGRAM.
Section 502 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``(j) Set Aside for Native Community Development Financial
Institutions.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
``(A) the term `Alaska Native' has the meaning
given the term `Native' in section 3(b) of the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(b));
``(B) the term `appropriate congressional
committees' means--
``(i) the Committee on Agriculture of the
Senate;
``(ii) the Committee on Indian Affairs of
the Senate;
``(iii) the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs of the Senate;
``(iv) the Committee on Agriculture of the
House of Representatives;
``(v) the Committee on Natural Resources of
the House of Representatives; and
``(vi) the Committee on Financial Services
of the House of Representatives;
``(C) the term `community development financial
institution' has the meaning given the term in section
103 of the Community Development Banking and Financial
Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702);
``(D) the term `Indian Tribe' has the meaning given
the term `Indian tribe' in section 4 of the Native
American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act
of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103);
``(E) the term `Native community development
financial institution' means an entity--
``(i) that has been certified as a
community development financial institution by
the Secretary of the Treasury;
``(ii) that is not less than 50 percent
owned or controlled by members of Indian
Tribes, Alaska Native communities, or Native
Hawaiian communities; and
``(iii) for which not less than 50 percent
of the activities of the entity serve Indian
Tribes, Alaska Native communities, or Native
Hawaiian communities;
``(F) the term `Native Hawaiian' has the meaning
given the term in section 801 of the Native American
Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996
(25 U.S.C. 4221); and
``(G) the term `priority Tribal land' means--
``(i) any land located within the
boundaries of--
``(I) an Indian reservation,
pueblo, or rancheria; or
``(II) a former reservation within
Oklahoma;
``(ii) any land not located within the
boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or
rancheria, the title to which is held--
``(I) in trust by the United States
for the benefit of an Indian Tribe or
an individual Indian;
``(II) by an Indian Tribe or an
individual Indian, subject to
restriction against alienation under
laws of the United States; or
``(III) by a dependent Indian
community;
``(iii) any land located within a region
established pursuant to section 7(a) of the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.
1606(a));
``(iv) Hawaiian Home Lands, as defined in
section 801 of the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996
(25 U.S.C. 4221); or
``(v) those areas or communities designated
by the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs of
the Department of the Interior that are near,
adjacent, or contiguous to reservations where
financial assistance and social service
programs are provided to Indians because of
their status as Indians.
``(2) Purpose.--The purpose of this subsection is to--
``(A) increase homeownership opportunities for
Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Communities, and Native
Hawaiian communities in rural areas; and
``(B) provide capital to Native community
development financial institutions to increase the
number of mortgage transactions carried out by those
institutions.
``(3) Set aside for native cdfis.--Of amounts appropriated
to make direct loans under this section for each fiscal year,
the Secretary shall use $50,000,000 to make direct loans to
Native community development financial institutions in
accordance with this subsection.
``(4) Application requirements.--A Native community
development financial institution desiring a loan under this
subsection shall demonstrate that the institution--
``(A) can provide the non-Federal cost share
required under paragraph (6); and
``(B) is able to originate and service loans for
single family homes.
``(5) Lending requirements.--A Native community development
financial institution that receives a loan pursuant to this
subsection shall--
``(A) use those amounts to make loans to
borrowers--
``(i) who otherwise meet the requirements
for a loan under this section; and
``(ii) who--
``(I) are members of an Indian
Tribe, an Alaska Native community, or a
Native Hawaiian community; or
``(II) maintain a household in
which not less 1 member is a member of
an Indian Tribe, an Alaska Native
community, or a Native Hawaiian
community; and
``(B) in making loans under subparagraph (A), give
priority to borrowers described in that subparagraph
who are residing on priority Tribal land.
``(6) Non-federal cost share.--
``(A) In general.--A Native community development
financial institution that receives a loan under this
section shall be required to match not less than 20
percent of the amount received.
``(B) Waiver.--In the case of a loan for which
amounts are used to make loans to borrowers described
in paragraph (5)(B), the Secretary shall waive the non-
Federal cost share requirement described in
subparagraph (A) with respect to those loan amounts.
``(7) Reporting.--
``(A) Annual report by native cdfis.--Each Native
community development financial institution that
receives a loan pursuant to this subsection shall
submit an annual report to the Secretary on the lending
activities of the institution using the loan amounts,
which shall include--
``(i) a description of the outreach efforts
of the institution in local communities to
identify eligible borrowers;
``(ii) a description of how the institution
leveraged additional capital to reach
prospective borrowers;
``(iii) the number of loan applications
received, approved, and deployed;
``(iv) the average loan amount;
``(v) the number of finalized loans that
were made on Tribal trust lands and not on
Tribal trust lands; and
``(vi) the number of finalized loans that
were made on priority Tribal land and not
priority Tribal land.
``(B) Annual report to congress.--Not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of this subsection,
and every year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit
to the appropriate congressional communities a report
that includes--
``(i) a list of loans made to Native
community development financial institutions
pursuant to this subsection, including the name
of the institution and the loan amount;
``(ii) the percentage of loans made under
this section to members of Indian Tribes,
Alaska Native communities, and Native Hawaiian
communities, respectively, including a
breakdown of loans made to households residing
on and not on Tribal trust lands; and
``(iii) the average loan amount made by
Native community development financial
institutions pursuant to this subsection.
``(C) Evaluation of program.--Not later than 3
years after the date of enactment of this subsection,
the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury shall
conduct an evaluation of and submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report on the program under
this subsection, which shall--
``(i) evaluate the effectiveness of the
program, including an evaluation of the demand
for loans under the program; and
``(ii) include recommendations relating to
the program, including whether--
``(I) the program should be
expanded to such that all community
development financial institutions may
make loans under the program to the
borrowers described in paragraph (5);
and
``(II) the set aside amount
paragraph (3) should be modified in
order to match demand under the
program.
``(8) Grants for operational support.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make grants
to Native community development financial institutions
that receive a loan under this section to provide
operational support and other related services to those
institutions, subject to--
``(i) to the satisfactory performance, as
determined by the Secretary, of a Native
community development financial institution in
carrying out this section; and
``(ii) the availability of funding.
``(B) Amount.--A Native community development
financial institution that receives a loan under this
section shall be eligible to receive an annual grant
described in subparagraph (A) in an amount equal to not
less than 20 percent and not more than 25 percent of
the total outstanding balance of loans made by the
Native community development financial institution
under the program under this section as of the date on
which the grant is awarded.
``(9) Outreach and technical assistance.--There is
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $1,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2024--
``(A) to provide technical assistance to Native
community development financial institutions--
``(i) relating to homeownership and other
housing-related assistance provided by the
Secretary; and
``(ii) to assist those institutions to
perform outreach to eligible homebuyers
relating to the loan program under this
section; or
``(B) to provide funding to a national organization
representing Native American housing interests to
perform outreach and provide technical assistance as
described in clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, of
subparagraph (A).''.
<all>