Federal Credit Fridays: Sarah Cunningham on OMB Circular A-129

June 3, 2022 Anthony Curcio

Federal Credit Fridays with Anthony Curcio podcast

Welcome to Federal Credit Fridays! The U.S. government is one of the largest lenders and credit guarantors on earth. Its portfolio is estimated at over $3.6 trillion, as measured by loan assets and the face value of loan guarantees. The government uses credit for a wide variety of policy missions, including housing, higher education, small businesses, rural and urban economic development, infrastructure, and export promotion, among others. This podcast will familiarize you with the vast world of federal credit, and we hope that you’ll learn about similarities and differences between these programs as well as the importance of their work to achieving policy missions within the framework of public-private collaboration.

In today’s podcast, Sarah Cunningham, a director at Summit Consulting, discusses Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-129 and evidence-based evaluation of federal loan programs. Sarah is an expert in Circular A-129 and has been a leading voice in federal credit policy for 15 years, including stints at OMB, where she was chief of the “Credit Crew”—a team responsible for coordinating budgeting and policy review of federal loans and loan guarantees—as well as the assistant chief financial officer for budget and acting deputy chief financial officer. In these roles, she not only complied with Circular A-129, but also regulated it. Listen below and let us know what you think.

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