Impact of CRA
Sen. Phil Gramm’s (R-Texas) proposal to eviscerate the Community Reinvestment Act comes when the gap between America’s rich and poor threatens the fabric of our society (Commentary, Sept. 13). Since the CRA’s passage in 1977, lenders across the country have committed more than $1 trillion in loans and investments to underserved neighborhoods. Wells Fargo has made over $3.5 billion in California community reinvestment loans each year for the last three years and has committed $15 billion more. Bank of America has committed $70 billion to California over the next decade. These loans have been used to expand businesses, create jobs and build housing.
Inequality of economic opportunity weighs heavily on California’s future prosperity. The time has come--not to turn back the clock, as Gramm would have it--but to mount a new march forward. Fighting for the CRA is a good start.
PHILIP ANGELIDES
State Treasurer, Sacramento
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