WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, released a statement regarding Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s request to not extend municipal and Main Street lending programs established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Without an extension, the federal lending programs will expire at the end of the year:

“I’m deeply disappointed in the request from the Treasury Department to prematurely defund these important CARES Act 13(3) programs.  As I pointed out in my letter to the Secretary and Fed Chair last week, with cases rising throughout the country, we need every tool at our disposal to support the economic recovery in the months ahead. Now is precisely the wrong time to reverse course and limit our capacity to provide liquidity to a struggling economy.”

Sen. Warner, a former technology entrepreneur, has long worked to provide financial relief to the American economy amid the COVID-19 crisis. During a September Banking Hearing with Secretary Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Sen. Warner stressed the need for another COVID-19 relief package that properly supports Main Street and stimulates local economies by making significant investments targeted towards affected communities. To help with economic recovery efforts, Sen. Warner introduced the Jobs and Neighborhood Investment Act, legislation that would provide eligible community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs) with capital, liquidity, and operational capacity to serve minority and historically disadvantaged communities. A comprehensive list of his COVID-19-related work is available here.

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