Advancing Economic Security & Community Prosperity
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Veto Session update:
Advocates Again Help Convince Legislators Not to Create Regulatory Sandbox
 During the Illinois General Assembly veto session the last week of October, Woodstock Institute and other consumer groups made the case that lawmakers should not proceed with a regulatory “sandbox”-like licensing scheme whereby a financial technology (“fintech”) company can skirt consumer protection laws by applying for a special license to test “innovations” on consumers.
 
Legislators agreed to remove the fintech licensing scheme and instead focus on establishing special purpose trusts within the Corporate Fiduciary Act to enable corporate fiduciaries to hold cryptocurrency.
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CRA Protest: First Midwest merger

Woodstock and National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) joined the St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance (SLEHCRA) in opposing the proposed merger between First Mid Bank & Trust and Jefferson Bank & Trust.
 
Our letter to the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the U.S. Department of Justice and those submitted by NCRC and SLEHCRA cited similar Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending concerns with First Mid Bank & Trust’s ongoing operations in multiple markets across Illinois.
 
First Mid Bank & Trust is a $5.6 billion bank based in Mattoon, IL, with a growing banking presence in the St. Louis region. The bank is applying to acquire Jefferson Bank & Trust, of St. Louis, MO. Combined, the bank would be 11th largest in deposits in the St. Louis market. 
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Our comment:
FHFA Requiring Fannie & Freddie to Submit Equitable Housing Finance Plans

This week Woodstock Institute submitted a comment responding to a Request for Input from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

We applaud the goals of the Equity Plans and lay out some policies and practices to address failures by the agency to invest in communities or that actively undermined communities’ economic resilience.
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We Prosper Coalition
Consumer Outreach Continues
We continue to conduct outreach to raise awareness about consumer protection and wealth building strategies, especially the protections built into the Predatory Loan Prevention Act.
 
Thanks to generous support from sponsors, we’ve been able to feature a number of policymakers and community leaders in conversation on WVON, including borrower and advocate Kesha Warren, Andy Posner of Capital Good Fund, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

We also continue to compensate borrowers for sharing a story or completing a brief survey on loan experiences via WeProsperIL.org surveys, available in English and Spanish.
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Welcome Research
Associate Tiffany Lyons 

Tiffany Lyons joined Woodstock Institute as a Research Associate in October 2021. She will work within the research team to gather data and other metrics for research reports.
 
Prior to joining Woodstock, Tiffany worked as a Digital Inclusion and Learning Specialist at North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN). In this role, she provided digital education to the residents of the North Lawndale community. Prior to NLEN, she worked extensively in the nonprofit sector in workforce development, programming, and compliance.
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Join us for Giving Tuesday!

Woodstock Institute is making plans to participate in Giving Tuesday, the national giving day to encourage financial support of organizations serving the public good. In 2020, Giving Tuesday generated $2.47 billion in donations to U.S. nonprofits by a reported 34.8 million people.
 
We’d be honored to receive your financial investment in our work for economic justice. Mark your calendar to make a gift on Tuesday, November 30 (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving)! 
Thank you for reading!
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