“Having additional data on barriers to accessing FHL Bank System and better tracking the impact on how those banks are used will allow all of the regional banks to better meet the needs of community.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – During a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) pushed for transparency and equality in Federal Home Loan (FHL) Bank Programs’ investments in affordable housing, especially for historically redlined communities that were locked out of such opportunities. In her remarks, Rep. Pressley also called for FHL Banks to invest in programs to support small businesses and community development financial institutions.

A transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks is available below and the video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley Pushes for Investments in Affordable Housing, Historically Disenfranchised Communities, Community Financial Institutions

House Financial Services Subcommittee

July 21, 2026

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

And I begin every question line with the same opener, which is that I represent the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District—a beautiful, diverse district, but one that is deeply unequal. 

I’m sure my colleagues are tired of me repeating the statistics I’m about to enumerate, but until these material conditions change, I’ll continue to lift them up.

If we’re tired of hearing them, imagine how tired people are of living them. 

In a three-mile radius, from Cambridge, home to MIT and Harvard, to Roxbury, a historic majority Black neighborhood in my district, median household income drops by $50,000 and life expectancy by 30 years. That’s according to the Color of Wealth report from the Federal Reserve of Boston. 

And this is not by accident. 

The Federal Home Loan, FHL, Bank Board, along with other federal agencies like the Federal Housing Administration—as we’ve spoken throughout this hearing to provide the history—distributed maps that were guided, that guided where investments went in times of crisis—redlining places like Roxbury out of investments during the Great Depression.

Today, FHL banks are required by law to contribute 10% of their income to affordable housing programs. Now, this has helped places like my district, the Massachusetts 7th, build and preserve over 130 affordable rental units in 2025 alone. 

FHL Bank Boston has piloted programs like Jobs for New England and CDFI Advance to provide low interest loans to small businesses and Community Development Financial Institutions. 

These kinds of investments are essential, are critical in making sure that our economy is inclusive and works for everyone. 

Mr. Donovan, in 2025, less than 2% of FHL bank members were CDFIs, which seems low. Has the FHL Bank System conducted research on the barriers to becoming a member or accessing funding supports?

MR. DONOVAN: Representative, the numbers that you have cited are really hard to hear, and I’m sorry to hear them. 

The question you’ve asked is very important in terms of how the system can better serve the CDFI members. There are some barriers to this. You know, one of the barriers is the type of collateral that they, that they present. 

Another barrier is the valuation supervisory guidance that we receive. You know, there’s, they aren’t subject to the same type of prudential regulation as our other members, and that is taken into account in the risk profile. 

Having said that, we have offered during the previous administration a proposal to use the Community Development Bond Guarantee Fund to help guarantee portions of the advances in order to bring better pricing to CDFI members. That proposal was not advanced, but what I want to leave you with is that there is a lot of attention being given in the home loan bank system to the CDFI community, and we’d be happy to work with you. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Okay, I would, I would certainly welcome that and continue to build on these ideas.

Ms. Judge, what are some of the benefits of setting barriers to entry for membership or accessing program funding from those members?

MS. JUDGE: At the level of the Federal Home Loan Bank…and a lot of it is they are not willing to do the extra work and the extra diligence that it would require to actually accept as collateral on advances—collateral that is atypical—but it is actually really serving the community in a meaningful way. 

If you look at the Federal Home Loan Bank, at Federal Home Loan Banks At 100 Report that came out, they talk about the fact that in practice, Federal Home Loan Banks are creating significant frictions on the ability of CDFIs to understand the processes and to work through the processes. 

And I think the numbers that you referenced show the outcome. They might be trying to work really hard, but they’re not working nearly hard enough because we see a tiny fraction of the advances actually going to CDFIs, even though those institutions play an outsized and vital role in the type of lending that you would like to see. 

REP. PRESSLEY: So, Ms. Judge, while I have you before I lose all my time here, since we’re in a housing crisis, an affordability crisis, an unemployment crisis, just as a final word here, why is it important that FHL bank systems specifically continue to bolster investments into housing? 

MS. JUDGE: Because there’s still parts of the housing sector where there’s a lot of underserved communities, and so we end up with some areas that are served very well, and other areas where there’s not nearly enough development. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you. 

Having additional data on barriers to accessing FHL Bank System and better tracking the impact on how those banks are used will allow all of the regional banks to better meet the needs of community. So I hope to continue to build on these ideas with each of you, and I yield back. 

###