Banks get more room to invest in communities—but no requirement to use it

What it does

This bill raises the cap on how much money national banks and state member banks can invest in community development and public-welfare projects from 15% to 20% of their capital. It allows banks to direct a larger share of their assets toward affordable housing, small business lending, and similar community-benefit activities.

Why we flagged it

The bill is a narrow technical amendment to banking law that increases regulatory caps on a specific category of bank investment. It does not create new obligations or prohibitions, only expands the permissible scope of an existing discretionary activity.

What the text implies

• The bill does not mandate that banks increase community investments — it only permits them to do so. Banks may choose to maintain current investment levels or deploy the additional capacity for other purposes, limiting the practical public-welfare impact.
• The amendment applies only to national banking associations and state member banks (Federal Reserve members), not all banks. Community banks and credit unions are unaffected, potentially creating uneven access to expanded lending capacity across different regions and communities.
• The bill contains no accountability mechanism, reporting requirement, or public disclosure of how banks use the expanded investment authority, making it difficult for policymakers or the public to assess whether the increase translates to actual community benefit.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill expands banks' authority to invest in community development, potentially increasing affordable housing and small-business lending available to ordinary people. However, the mechanism is voluntary — banks are permitted but not required to increase such investments, and the actual public benefit depends on whether banks choose to deploy this new capacity for community benefit rather than other uses.

Who stands to gain

• national banks
• state member banks (Federal Reserve members)
• bank holding companies

Named in the bill

Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, national banking associations, state member banks, section 5136 Revised Statutes, section 9 Federal Reserve Act

Where it stands

9 cosponsors: 5 Republicans, 4 Democrats.

• Jul 24, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jul 24, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

9 lobbying clients named this bill on 15 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,554,500 in lobbying spend. A filing names 7 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 89% of bills with at least one filing.

Tim Scott, the sponsor, reported $214,300 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $2,500 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.

• Keycorp — $580,000 on 2 filings
• The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition — $250,000 on 2 filings
• Huntington Bancshares Incorporated — $170,000 on 1 filing
• Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. . — $167,000 on 1 filing
• Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition — $100,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.