The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Board of Directors voted to approve a final Statement of Policy regarding MDIs, which FDIC is charged with supporting by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. The new Statement of Policy updates standards for FDIC’s protection of and communication with MDIs it insures and updates several definitions to enhance its role in preserving them.

In their statement announcing the final Statement of Policy, FDIC also noted its ongoing work with public and private stakeholders to establish a Mission-Driven Bank Fund to support and grow the number of the approximately 250 FDIC-insured MDIs and CDFIs. According to FDIC, their work aims to establish a platform whereby private actors can make equity investments in MDIs and CDFIs, which allows those institutions to loan many times the amount of the initial investment.

On June 8, Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) reintroduced the Housing is a Human Right Act, which aims to invest over $300 billion in affordable housing and homelessness services and prevention. The bill includes a provision allowing the Department of Justice to disburse up to $100 million in grants to communities to develop alternatives to criminalization for those experiencing homelessness.

Both Reps. Jayapal and Meng noted the bill’s emphasis on respecting those experiencing homelessness, as opposed to penalizing or expelling them from their communities. “This gives communities like mine the resources we need to guarantee access to affordable housing, as well as the tools needed to tackle homelessness — while upholding the dignity of each person,” Meng said in a statement announcing the bill’s reintroduction.

On Wednesday, Amazon announced that it is committing $125 million to affordable housing development in a joint effort with WMATA in the D.C. metro area. The commitment will build more than 1,000 affordable housing units around metro stations through an innovative community development approach that unifies housing and transportation. This is the third initiative Amazon has announced with a partnered transit agency; two similar investments were made in Washington state and Nashville totaling $300 million. After decreases in ridership during the COVID-19, WMATA is hoping that more housing near stations will help rebuild ridership.

Amazon’s effort seems intended to assuage worries that its location of a second headquarters in Arlington, Va., will contribute to faster increases in housing prices in the surrounding region, a concern that contributed to the demise of a similar headquarters planned for Long Island City, N.Y. in 2019. However, the Washington Post noted that 1,000 units are a “small fraction” of the estimated 320,000 new housing units needed by 2030 to avoid further price increases in the Washington region. Still, Amazon Head of Community Development Catherine Buell noted that Amazon should not be expected to solve the region’s affordability woes on its own. “The demand for housing affordability preceded Amazon coming into the capital region,” she said.

On Tuesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its annual Report to Congress for 2020. The report detailed the role of FHFA has during the COVID-19 response, its efforts in building a world-class regulator, preparations for natural disasters, and preparing for an end to the conservatorship of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The report included an overview of how FHFA responded to the chaotic circumstances of 2020 and helped borrowers and renters stay in their homes while continuing to maintain mortgage markets. It also made the case for greater capital requirements and the eventual end of conservatorship. The report further asks that Congress take steps to “level the playing field” for the GSEs with the private sector, another signal that FHFA seeks to consider the end of conservatorship. Finally, the report requested the authority to examine third-party service providers to identify practices that risk safety and soundness to the GSEs.