WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., wrote to Jodie Harris, the new director of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The senators requested Harris give greater consideration to the needs of Mississippi communities when deciding future allocations of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), a program that uses tax credits to incentivize private investment to distressed communities.

“We recognize the NMTC’s importance to Mississippi and support its mission,” the senators wrote. “However, the NMTC program often has difficulty getting credits to the most disadvantaged areas, particularly in rural persistent poverty areas. In the 2017 award round, only one Mississippi-based applicant received an NMTC allocation. There are several highly qualified applicants for the NMTC in Mississippi, and we strongly encourage the CDFI Fund to pay particular attention to our state and to communities closest to those in need when making allocations.”