The nation’s community banks may be in store for what is being described as regulatory relief if legislation introduced in a House committee should secure full Congressional approval in the months ahead.
The Main Street Capital Access Act, says Pennsylvania Republican Representative Dan Meuser, is designed to make sure that “capital flows where it belongs, back to Main Street.”
The number of community banks in the country has declined in the last decade from more than 6,100 to just under 4,000.
According to the publication Business News Daily, community banks nationally provide upwards of “77% of agricultural loans and over 50% of small business loans,” and are often better geared to help small businesses because “they know the community.”
The decline in the number of community banks, asserts Meuser, “means less access to capital for small businesses, fewer loans for farmers, fewer options for homebuyers, and fewer financial services for working families.”
Supporters of the legislation say it will not only lead to the creation of new community banks but will require federal regulators to undertake a study looking into ways to improve rural depository institutions.
The measure, which has received bipartisan support, is now under review in the House Committee on Financial Services.
January 9, 2026
By Garry Boulard
