From: Esther Portnoy [mailto:portnoy@math.uiuc.edu]
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 2:48 PM
To: Comments
Subject: RIN 3064-AC50
I urge you to REJECT the proposal to change the CRA rules so that
only banks with over $1 billion in assets would be required to show that
they are providing some level of loans and other services to low- and
moderate-income communities. I understand that 97% of the banks in
my state (Illinois) would be exempt under this new rule, leaving only 13
banks in the state required to provide such services. This would likely
mean fewer grants to nonprofits providing services such as financial
education, fewer branches in certain areas, fewer investments in
affordable
housing, health clinics, and so on. I suspect that not only the inner
city of
Chicago, but also the downstate area, would be disproportionately
affected. For this reason, I hope that the proposed rule change will be
REJECTED.
