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Volume 10 Number 4 105th Congress
Efforts to pass a more expansive hate crimes bill failed in the 105th Congress, despite the national focus on the vicious hate crime against James Byrd in Texas, and Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. The legislation (S.1529/H.R. 3081), was introduced by Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and then-Representative Schumer (D-NY), and was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 33 senators and 169 representatives, but saw no floor action in either the House or Senate. However, supporters of the bill are confident the major groundwork has been laid and believe passage of the legislation is possible in the 106th Congress.
For more information on hate crimes visit the Leadership Conference website at: http://www.civilrights.org
To view the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999 go to: thom.loc.gov and search by bill number using either S. 622 or H.R. 1082.
The Senate Attacks The Community Reinvestment Act
On May 6, 1999, the Senate approved the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, a broad financial services reform bill that includes measures severely limiting the scope of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). CRA, enacted in 1977, strongly encourages federally insured banks to invest in low-income, high-risk communities and has been effective in stimulating economic growth and revitalizing communities. On July 2, the House passed a modernization bill, HR 10, which preserves the key provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act. The future of the CRA remains to be determined as the bills move to a conference committee.
Background
Redlining
Before the CRA was enacted in 1977, many banks systematically refused to issue loans in underserved rural and urban areas. This practice, referred to as "redlining" because banks and other lending institutions would draw lines on a map around certain so-called "bad-risk" neighborhoods, cut off bank loans to poorer communities. It was almost impossible for some people to get loans, even from banks where they had accounts. This practice of routinely denying loans had a disproportionate impact on minorities.
The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977
To combat this discrimination, Congress enacted the CRA in 1977 to encourage federally insured banks and thrifts to invest in all segments of the communities where they collect deposits. Under the law, bank regulators assess financial institutions' performance by checking patterns of lending in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods where banks conduct business; these compliance examinations typically occur once every 18 to 24 months. Most banks are assessed on three factors: lending, services and investment performance, and receive ratings, depending on the assessment of CRA performance, of: outstanding, satisfactory, needs to improve, or substantial noncompliance.
The CRA requires banks to publicly document their rating, and members of the public are encouraged to express their views about a bank's CRA performance before examinations and in connection with the filing of certain applications, such as those for mergers and acquisitions. Put simply, the CRA was enacted to encourage federally insured banks and thrifts to help meet the needs of their communities; it did so by granting the government the power to block mergers or expansions of banks that did not have satisfactory CRA ratings. While the CRA does not force banks to make unprofitable loans, it does encourage them to look beyond traditional customers.
  
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