The President has released his FY 2017 budget, proposing a total of $245.9 MM in CDFI Fund appropriations. That would represent a $12 million increase over the fund’s FY 2016 appropriations. Significantly, the budget proposes $19 million in funding for the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program, marking the first time in many years the president’s budget has not proposed eliminating the program. The budget also includes a new program aimed at promoting responsible small dollar loan products. The new program would make $10 million available as grants for loan loss reserve funds and as technical assistance for small dollar loan programs.