Breaking SF Public Bank: New Poll Shows 2 in 3 likely SF voters support starting a San Francisco Public Bank!

Read the story: https://www.kqed.org/news/12058853/san-francisco-public-bank-supporters-eye-2026-ballot-measure

Public Banking Launches in Fresno!

We co-hosted Fresno’s first public banking conversation with the community, alongside EPIC (End Poverty in California) and local partners: Academy of Financial Education, Central Valley Urban Institute, CVIIC (Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative), and ELF (Education & Leadership Foundation).

Held at Fresno City College on September 25, the session brought together dozens of community members, renters, small business owners, and advocates for a great conversation about unfair banking practices and what a city-run public bank could look like in Fresno. People shared stories, priorities, and ideas for how local dollars could better serve local needs, from funding affordable housing and small businesses to creating a bank with democratic, accountable governance rooted in community priorities.

Read the coverage in Fresnoland: A city-owned bank? Fresno enters the chat on public banking

Earlier that day, the California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) and the Central Valley Urban Institute presented a Public Banking 101 workshop for the Fresno City Council to explain how public banks work and their benefits for the city.

CPBA’s Executive Director Trinity Tran and Vice Chair Rick Girling also joined Central Valley Urban Institute’s Executive Director Eric Payne for the Council presentation.

Public banking flyer | Spanish version
CalAccount flyer | Spanish version

In the new year, CPBA and EPIC will co-host additional Public Banking Listening Sessions in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Statewide Roundup: Public Banking Updates from CPBA Locals!

EAST BAY
In early September, Friends of the Public Bank East Bay hosted a happy hour designed to bring endorsers and allies up to date on the progress of the group, and get community input on some next steps under discussion. About 50 people attended the event. It was truly amazing to spend an evening in community with our supporters and hear what was on people’s minds.

LOS ANGELES
In Los Angeles, the public banking motion cleared the Government Operations Committee in September 2025. PBLA’s Trinity Tran and Move LA’s Executive Director Eli Lipmen presented at City Hall, backed by community allies including SEIU 721, ACCE Los Angeles, Inclusive Action for the City, United Parents and Students, and PBLA members. The motion has unanimous support in Council, with nine councilmembers including Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson contributing their own discretionary dollars to move the work forward.

Upcoming Event

NORTH COAST
Join us at Cal Poly Humboldt for the Next System Teach-In on November 8 organized by David Cobb from CPBA affiliate, North Coast Progressive Alliance. A public banking workshop will be conducted by Debbie Notkin (Public Bank East Bay) and Rick Girling (SF Public Banking Coalition) to give participants ideas about how public banking can be part of building the next world that is democratic, sustainable, and just.

Trinity Tran Named 2025 Fellow with Social Justice Partners LA

CPBA’s Executive Director, Trinity Tran, joined the 2025 Fellowship Class of Social Justice Partners LA, a network of local changemakers working on equity and systems change in Los Angeles. The fellowship will help support our volunteer-driven work to make real, transformative financial change across California.

Volunteer with the California Public Banking Alliance!

Join the fight to build local public banks and a California State Bank. Let’s build a movement and a banking system that actually works for the people of California.

Volunteer with Us!

Fresno Public Banking Listening Sessions

We co-hosted Fresno’s first public banking conversation with the community, alongside EPIC (End Poverty in California) and local partners: Academy of Financial Education, Central Valley Urban Institute, CVIIC (Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative), and ELF (Education & Leadership Foundation).

Held at Fresno City College on September 25, the session brought together dozens of community members, renters, small business owners, and advocates for a great conversation about unfair banking practices and what a city-run public bank could look like in Fresno. People shared stories, priorities, and ideas for how local dollars could better serve local needs, from funding affordable housing and small businesses to creating a bank with democratic, accountable governance rooted in community priorities.

Read the coverage in Fresnoland: A city-owned bank? Fresno enters the chat on public banking

Earlier that day, the California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) and the Central Valley Urban Institute presented a Public Banking 101 workshop for the Fresno City Council to explain how public banks work and their benefits for the city.

CPBA’s Executive Director Trinity Tran and Vice Chair Rick Girling also joined Central Valley Urban Institute’s Executive Director Eric Payne for the Council presentation.

Public banking flyer | Spanish version
CalAccount flyer | Spanish version

In the new year, CPBA and EPIC will co-host additional Public Banking Listening Sessions in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Fresno just entered the public banking chat! And the community is driving it. From local organizers to small-business owners, folks packed the West Fresno Center to keep public dollars working for Fresno’s working families. @fresnoland has the story.

https://fresnoland.org/2025/09/29/fresno-public-bank/

Huge thanks to every community member that showed up and spoke at the listening session, and to the lead groups who coordinated the event with us: End Poverty in California, The Academy of Financial Education, The Central Valley Urban Institute, CVIIC, Education & Leadership Foundation.

Our new brief, “Public Banking in California: Learning from the Bank of North Dakota,” with the University of Michigan is out! This is the most comprehensive U.S. economic report focused on CA public banks, and the first academic, data-driven analysis to use the BND as a case study for how public banks can save money, expand affordable housing and access to capital for small businesses, and help close racial wealth gaps.

We would like to thank Terri Friedline and the University of Michigan team, Trinity Tran and Rick Girling with the California Public Banking Alliance, Erin Kilmer-Neel and the Beneficial State Foundation team, Bianca Blomquist and the Small Business Majority team, and Lydia Casmier at Demos.

Our goal with this report was to give California’s public banking movement a data-driven foundation. It provides clear, evidence-based findings that support what we as advocates have been saying for years and helps lay the groundwork for policy frameworks to establish public banks across the state.

Read it here! Public Banking in California: Learning from the Bank of North Dakota
Landing page on Poverty Solutions.

We’re excited to share that CalAccount is moving forward this year through the state budget process, and was included in the budget deal agreed to by the Governor, Senate, and Assembly, a strategic path forward made possible by the leadership of Assemblymember Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim), Governor Newsom and his legislative staff, the Chiefs of Staff for Senate President pro Tempore McGuire and Budget Chair Wiener, Speaker Rivas, Assembly Budget Chair Gabriel, and State Treasurer Ma, along with her Chief Deputy Treasurer.

This year’s state budget provides $1 million toward implementation in the CalAccount Commission process. Once approved, CalAccount will become the nation’s first state-administered, fee-free public banking option. It builds on the groundwork laid by the California Public Banking Option Act (AB 1177), passed in 2021, and the CalAccount Blue Ribbon Commission, chaired by State Treasurer Fiona Ma, which produced the market analysis in 2024. This is another major step toward ending financial exclusion and reducing economic inequality across the state.

CalAccount will provide a safe and free public banking alternative for over 7 million unbanked and underbanked Californians, including 2.5 million households. Each year, California families lose $4.5 billion to financial fees. That’s money that should go toward rent, groceries, and bills, not bank profits. As costs rise, CalAccount provides real relief for low-wage workers and vulnerable communities, providing a practical alternative to the predatory fees and penalties of big banks.

Thank you to everyone who sent emails and letters to the Governor and budget leaders. Your support helped make this happen!

Why it matters:

• CalAccount could save underbanked households upwards of $1,000 per year.
• It’s projected to deliver over $45 million in economic stimulus in its first year alone.
• The program is designed to be cost-neutral over time, funded by user swipe fees, not taxpayer dollars.

CalAccount is an urgently needed path forward to keep more money in people’s pockets and ensure every Californian has access to basic financial services, especially as consumer financial protections are being dismantled at the federal level.

We’re proud to help lead this effort with SEIU California and the CalAccount Community Coalition, and to see California once again set the national standard for economic justice.

Read our press release here.

CalAccount Community Coalition in Sacramento!

Photos from our CalAccount Advocacy Day and training session with the CalAccount Community Coalition and California Fast Food Workers at the State Capitol and SEIU State Council in Sacramento.

CalAccount Community Coalition gathers at the Capitol Rotunda.

CalAccount Community Coalition and California Fast Food Workers Union with Assemblymember Avelino Valencia.

Sylvia Chi – California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA), Cynthia Amezcua – FreeFrom, Trinity Tran – CPBA, Rick Girling – CPBA, Anneisha Williams – California Fast Food Workers Union (CFWU), Erika Connor – CFWU at the Capitol.

heila Ainsworth with California Fast Food Workers Union – CFWU, Michael Jones – CFWU, Trinity Tran – California Public Banking Alliance, Lilian Hernandez – CFWU, Pedro Loera – CFWU, Erika Conner – CFWU, Lio Sanchez – CFWU meeting with State Legislators.

Sylvia Chi – CPBA, Michael Jones – CFWU, Erika Conner – CFWU, Sheila Ainsworth – CFWU, Pedro Loera – CFWU heading to legislative meetings.

CalAccount Advocacy Training Session with California Fast Food Workers Union at SEIU State Council.

Sarah Zimmerman, Cecille Isidro – SEIU at the CalAccount Advocacy Training.

Thanks to everyone who joined The New School’s Public Banking Panel featuring Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and CPBA’s Trinity Tran! Watch the recording and hear about how Public Banking and Guaranteed Income can work together to tackle income inequality, provide immediate relief, and build long-term structural change!

Watch the discussion: https://vimeo.com/1094198348/1982f4784b

Our team answered 50 questions from pre-registration and the live chat. Read them here!
https://mailchi.mp/newschool/2025-june-public-banking-research-virtual-roundtable-thank-you?e=19280256d6

Thank you to all panelists:

– Representative Rashida Tlaib, U.S. Representative, 12th Congressional District of Michigan

– Terri Friedline, Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan

– Darrick Hamilton, University Professor and Founding Director, Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, The New School

– Amy Castro, Co-Founder and Faculty Director, Center for Guaranteed Income Research, and Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania

– Trinity Tran, Executive Director, Co-Founder, and Lead Organizer, California Public Banking Alliance

– Graham Steele, Academic Fellow, Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Stanford Law School/Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Fellow, Financial Regulation, Roosevelt Institute

Public Banking: Financial Infrastructure for Guaranteed Income and a Just Economy
Tuesday, June 17 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PT | Zoom

Register Online via Zoom

As federal support for climate and infrastructure shrinks, cities are turning to bold tools to build local economic power. Public banking is one of them.

Join us for a virtual roundtable, featuring our very own Trinity Tran, on how public banks can support guaranteed income programs and help build more inclusive, community-rooted economies. The event will spotlight new research from the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School and feature leaders in public banking, economic justice, and guaranteed income.

Featuring:

• Representative Rashida Tlaib, U.S. Representative, 12th Congressional District of Michigan
• Terri Friedline, Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan
• Darrick Hamilton, University Professor and Founding Director, Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, The New School
• Amy Castro, Co-Founder and Faculty Director, Center for Guaranteed Income Research, and Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania
• Trinity Tran, Co-Founder and Lead Organizer, California Public Banking Alliance
• Graham Steele, Academic Fellow, Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Stanford Law School/Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Fellow, Financial Regulation, Roosevelt Institute

Hosted by: The Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, The New School.

Read and download two new reports on how public banking can support economic equity and strengthen financial infrastructure for guaranteed income programs.

Public Banking A Public Option to Build an Inclusive and Sustainable Economy includes a brief overview of Public Bank LA.

How Public Banking Could Support Guaranteed Income includes a mention of the California Public Banking Alliance and CalAccount.

At a national convening in Washington, D.C., marking the launch of Demos and New Economy Project’s report, Public Banks for Racial Equity: Democratizing Finance to Build Community Wealth,CPBA’s Executive Director Trinity Tran and Legislative Director Sylvia Chi presented Dispatches From the Field: Wins, Lessons, What’s Next for California, a look at the statewide public banking movement’s milestones and future trajectory.

The report covers the California Public Banking Alliance’s leadership in passing the California Public Banking Act (AB 857), the first legislation in the nation to create a pathway for municipal public banks. CPBA’s work is cited as a model for how public financial institutions can “move public dollars out of extractive banking institutions and into investments that benefit working-class communities of color.”

CPBA is proud to be featured alongside organizers and public banking advocates from across the country committed to reimagining finance for racial and economic justice. As Trinity Tran notes in the report, “A public bank must be rooted in public interest and accountability to the communities it serves. We’re building the financial architecture to fund affordable housing, small businesses, and green infrastructure in communities that Wall Street has long ignored.”

The report features insights from CPBA along with Public Bank LA’s Legislative Director David Jette, showing how California is laying the groundwork for a network of socially and environmentally responsible public banks, designed to build economic power in low-income communities of color.

Read the full report: Public Banks for Racial Equity.