Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is urging community development lenders across the state to move quickly after federal grant application materials became available Tuesday for two key lending programs. The Office of Management and Budget released Notices of Funding Availability for the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) and Small Dollar Loan (SDL) programs housed within the CDFI Fund, opening a roughly one-month window for eligible institutions to apply.

Crapo’s Role in Pushing for the Release

The funding materials did not become available without a push from Capitol Hill. In June, Crapo and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) led a letter to OMB urging the immediate release of the fiscal year 2025 BEA and SDL grant application materials, warning that further delay would leave lenders with inadequate time to prepare. Ten other Senate colleagues joined the letter.

The letter’s signatories made their urgency clear, writing that “the failure to immediately release the FY 2025 BEA and SDL NOFAs and application materials will result in insufficient time” — language that reflected broader concern among lawmakers that community lenders could be squeezed out by a compressed application period.

With OMB now having released the materials, Crapo is directing eligible Idaho lenders to act without delay given the approximately one-month deadline.

Why CDFIs Matter in Rural Idaho

Community Development Financial Institutions serve as lenders of first resort in many rural and underserved communities, providing capital for small businesses, home purchases, and local economic development where traditional financial institutions may not be present or competitive. The CDFI Fund has operated since 1994 and has become a significant tool for rural community investment.

The BEA program in particular directs most of its dollars toward rural institutions — 80 percent of BEA funds flow to rural banks — making the program especially relevant to Idaho, where a substantial share of the state’s population lives outside major urban centers.

Crapo framed the stakes plainly: “CDFIs play a vital role in strengthening Idaho’s rural communities by providing access to capital for small businesses, homeownership and other local investments.”

Crapo’s Broader Legislative Work on Community Lending

Tuesday’s announcement reflects a sustained focus by Crapo on the community lending sector. He serves as co-chair of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus and is the co-lead on the Scaling Community Lenders Act. He is also a co-sponsor of two additional measures — the Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act and the CDFI Fund Transparency Act — each aimed at expanding or improving oversight of community lending programs.

Crapo has chaired the Senate Finance Committee and has represented Idaho in the Senate since 1999, previously serving three terms in the U.S. House and eight years in the Idaho State Senate.

What Comes Next

Eligible community lenders — including banks participating in the BEA program and institutions offering small-dollar loan products — now have roughly one month to complete and submit applications. Crapo’s office encouraged Idaho CDFIs to begin the process immediately given the compressed timeline.

The release of these materials resolves what lawmakers described as a damaging delay, though the underlying concern about the pace of federal grant administration may resurface in future appropriations and oversight discussions. Crapo’s legislative portfolio on the issue suggests the Senate Finance Committee chairman will continue pressing for responsive federal support for community-based lenders.

For Idaho’s rural banks and community development lenders, the immediate priority is clear: the application window is short, and Crapo’s office is signaling that missing it would mean forgoing a funding source that disproportionately benefits institutions serving smaller markets across the state.