Critics: Rural Investment at Risk if Bank Law Eased
Howard Berkes, NPR
Nanette Sonnier stands in front of her home in Iberia Parish, La., which she built with the assistance of federal programs, local banks and the Southern Mutual Help Association.
The 1977 passage of the Community Reinvestment Act created more than a trillion dollars in jobs, businesses and homes in rural and poor communities. The act requires banks to lend money, provide banking services and invest in low-income neighborhoods and towns.
But now, some federal bank regulators say that's too much regulation. They're proposing changes that community activists say will decimate rural America. NPR's Howard Berkes reports from Iberia Parish, La.
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