Morris, M., Goodman, N., Baker, A., Palmore, K., & Blanck, P.

Morris, M., Goodman, N., Baker, A., Palmore, K., & Blanck, P. (2019). Closing the Disability Gap: Reforming the Community Reinvestment Act Regulatory Framework, Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy, XXVI (3), 347-74.

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Since its inception over forty years ago, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has encouraged banks to serve low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods and populations. Originally signed into law in 1977 to reduce
discriminatory credit practices known as “redlining” in LMI neighborhoods, the law mandates that banks provide support and opportunity for communities that are less economically stable through lending, investment, and service. The CRA is an example of public policy designed to spur private sector action, with particular
attention to those at the bottom of the economic ladder. People with disabilities make up a significant part of the LMI population yet the specific needs of this sizable subpopulation are often overlooked. In 2018,
more than one quarter (27%) of working-age people with disabilities were living below the poverty level, over twice the rate of those without disabilities, and people with disabilities often are excluded from the labor market and economic opportunities.