The White House, Washington, D.C. (Source: Shutterstock)
President Joe Biden released his budget proposal for 2023 on Monday that included an increase in funding support for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and a flagship small business lending program.
Inside President Biden's $5.8 trillion proposed budget, the administration requested $331 million for CDFI efforts, an increase of 23% from the $295 million passed in the previous budget. While the U.S. Department of Treasury oversees and administers the CDFI Fund to assist credit unions to provide financial services to low-income communities, the NCUA administers the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund.
Currently, there are more than 1,100 CDFIs in the U.S.
In January, the Bremerton, Wash.-based Kitsap Credit Union ($2 billion in assets, more than 123,00 members) became the most recent credit union to gain CDFI certification.
The budget proposal also included $210 million for FinCEN. As a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury, FinCEN analyzes financial transactions for financial crimes, such as money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to the administration, the boost in FinCEN funding came along with the U.S. imposed economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The money will go toward strengthening cybersecurity efforts as phishing and financial hacking scams have increased since the war in Ukraine began in February.
The Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan guarantee program, as well the 504 loan program and Secondary Market Guarantee program, could see funding reach $9.5 billion in Biden's budget proposal.
According to a statement released by NAFCU, "Increasing these lending levels could drive economic growth by significantly expanding the availability of working capital, fixed capital and venture capital funding for small businesses."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
