Woodstock Institute influences policy at the local, regional, and national level by closely analyzing the impact of pending proposals on lower-income and minority communities. Many of these letters are available for download.
Woodstock Institute strongly urges the IRS
to not expand pre-certification beyond the initial group of 45,000
filers before a comprehensive evaluation demonstrating that
pre-certification is effective in reducing overpayments and can be
conducted without significant harm to eligible filers.
Comment letter opposing the Office of Thrift Supervision’s proposed changes (No. 2004-53) to their regulation of the Community Reinvestment Act. The proposal would change the way that a “large” institution’s CRA rating is assigned, as well as broaden the definition of “community development” to include activities that do not benefit low- and moderate-income households and communities.
Comment letter in support of the proposed amendments to Regulation E which protects consumers using payroll cards from unauthorized transfers and undisclosed fees. This amendment would also define a payroll card account directly or indirectly established by an employer to receive wages, salary, or other employee compensation on a recurring basis as an account which receives the consumer protections of the federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act.
Comments in response to the 2002 interagency
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Community Reinvestment
Act. Woodstock Institute comments support the current regulations
and primarily address Section 1 on large retail institutions, Section 2
on small banks, and Section 3, addressing the CRA examination of
wholesale banks under the community development test. Comments on
the activities of affiliates, the strategic plan option, community
contacts procedure, the definition of assessment areas, and the
collection and distribution of public data files are also included.
Comment letter in support of the National Credit Union Administration’s proposal to conduct a one-time survey of a sample of credit unions on their penetration of low- and moderate-income communities.
