City and Regional Reports from the
California Public Banking Alliance

We’re making significant headway in public banking, with various local governments across California showing their commitment by providing funding for public bank viability studies and business plans. These efforts are aimed at outlining the implementation path for the establishment of local public banks in their respective areas.

Read our press in Next City: Public Banking Efforts Are Gaining Momentum And Clarity In California. From Los Angeles to the Central Coast, from San Francisco to the East Bay and Sacramento, major public banking plans are emerging from California cities.

Also, be on the lookout for our new video introduction to public banking! We’ll share the link to “You Can Public Bank on That” soon!

CENTRAL COAST

People for Public Banking Central Coast has been advocating since 2019 for a regional public bank to encompass the counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo, including the cities within those counties. Currently, 12 jurisdictions have formally expressed interest in participating in a viability study to create the bank, including Santa Barbara County which has pledged $25,000 toward the study.

A possible first step will be to create a municipal finance corporation or green bank which could be called the Central Coast People’s Fund. We continue to focus on education and outreach, especially to city managers and finance directors. We also hope to educate large numbers of citizens on the benefits of public bank financing for projects like affordable housing and disaster mitigation.

EAST BAY

Public Bank East Bay is planning a suite of announcements of important milestones in mid-September. While we prepare those announcements, we (including our slate of Bank Board candidates) are very busy refining our draft business plan and charter application, collaborating closely with Alameda County and the three cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Richmond so they will be ready to sign that application and contribute capital to the bank, and providing comprehensive training for our Bank Board candidates. We’re actively reaching out to local financial institutions as potential partners under AB 857 and are thrilled to announce recent foundation grants of $300,000 from the Irvine Foundation and an additional $150,000 grant (to be shared with Rise Economy). These grants will greatly support our research and outreach efforts for public banking.

LOS ANGELES

In June 2023, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved $460,000 to fund Phase 1 of the public bank feasibility study and business plan. Public Bank LA is collaborating with coalition leaders including SEIU 721 to secure an additional $240,000 to support Phase 2. Public Bank LA is also engaging LA County Supervisors working alongside Move LA and Destination Crenshaw on the LA County Regional Public Bank in an effort that runs parallel to the LA City Public Bank.

The Jain Family Institute and the Berggruen Institute released the full LA public bank report series including five extensive briefings covering: a series introduction, affordable housing, democratic frameworks, clean energy portfolio options, interactive balance sheet simulator, and financial justice portfolio options. The 160-page report series provides the most comprehensive analysis of a public bank within the movement to date.

Recent LA coverage:
Los Angeles Times
California Globe
CBS News

POMONA VALLEY

In addition to a presentation at a local Rotary Club and University Club, Public Bank Pomona Valley’s leadership met with Public Banking Institute founder, Ellen Brown, to discuss the history and national prospects of the movement. We plan to meet soon with the Claremont Democratic Club as well as a gathering organized by the Human Values Institute, which is working with several groups promoting economic well-being in the Pomona region.

The Public Bank Pomona Valley advocacy group includes several current and former elected officials in city government, as well as community leaders of nonprofits and foundations promoting economic justice issues. While grassroots education is our primary task for now, we are ready to urge our Pomona Valley cities to begin developing their banking business plan when the time is right.

SACRAMENTO

A unanimous vote from the Banking and Audit Committee of the City Council of Sacramento was obtained this past spring authorizing up to $250,000 for a viability study and business plan for a Public Bank. The Committee is made up of the Mayor of Sacramento as well as 3 council members. City staff in the office of the Treasurer of Sacramento are now working on a draft RFP for a Viability Study with support from the Sacramento Public Bank Working Group. The Sacramento Public Bank Working Group continues to educate the public on the advantages of a Public Bank and has met with the City Treasurer and Banking Manager.

SAN FRANCISCO

The SF Public Bank Coalition (SFPBC) is mobilizing supporters for the presentation of the Reinvest In SF Working Group public banking plan to the Board of Supervisors on September 5, 2023. SF Public Bank is also working to establish a “Green Bank” to gain access to Greenhouse Gas Reduction funds.

On August 31, SF Public Bank will have its first general membership meeting open to all interested in joining our coalition. We presented to the Loma Prieta Sierra Club which sees public banking in the Peninsula and Silicon Valley as a means of financing innovative climate crisis interventions. We are hoping this helps reinvigorate the South Bay chapter of the California Public Banking Alliance.

Recent SF coverage:
Westside Observer
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Examiner

CALIFORNIA REGIONS

In regions across California, including Pomona Valley and North Coast, our CA Public Banking Alliance teams continue to dedicate themselves to community education and engagement.

We are actively reaching out to public banking advocates in regions that have not yet established CPBA chapters. If you are interested in learning more about getting public banking started in your area, or know someone who might be, please contact our outreach coordinator, David Cobb at davidkcobb@gmail.com. Below is a list of areas we are especially hoping to form chapters of public bank supporters.

BAKERSFIELD
FRESNO
HUMBOLDT / NORTH COAST
RIVERSIDE / SAN BERNARDINO
SAN DIEGO
SANTA ROSA / SONOMA COUNTY
SOUTH BAY / SILICON VALLEY
STOCKTON / MODESTO

CALACCOUNT

Our universal banking program, CalAccount (AB 1177), is an ongoing initiative of the CPBA. Along with coalition partners SEIU California and Rise Economy, we’re tracking the progress of the CalAccount program in the monthly hearings for community representation on the CalAccount advisory board and ensuring the program’s successful implementation. Establishing positive relationships with regulatory authorities is vital; we’re actively building partnerships with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation agency (DFPI), including DFPI Commissioner Cloey Hewlett.

People power in Sacramento! Fight for $15 and KIWA, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance workers turned out in support of CalAccount, urging the State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Commissioners to incorporate community input, a crucial step to ensure the program’s success and provide essential banking services for nearly 10 million low-wage Californians.

Read the CalAccount August Legislative Briefing.

FEDERAL PUBLIC BANKING ACT

The CPBA is currently advising Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s office, providing insights for the amendments in preparation for the federal Public Banking Act‘s reintroduction, anticipated in the coming months, spearheaded by Representatives Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez.

The San Francisco Chronicle discusses the proposal to create the nation’s first municipal public bank in San Francisco to address the city’s housing crisis and economic challenges. Modeled after the Bank of North Dakota, the plan aims to fund housing projects for low- and middle-wage workers, support small business recovery, and promote a carbon-neutral future. The bank would partner with private banks rather than compete with them, generating funds that enable community banks to provide financing at lower interest rates. The benefits of a public bank include facilitating affordable housing and jump-starting small businesses. The article quotes Sylvia Chi, the Alliance’s Legislative Co-Director and member of the San Francisco Public Banking Working Group: “If we’re going to redevelop the Westfield Mall into something, they should use green building techniques and make sure it’s as efficient and sustainable as possible,” Chi said.” Although the bank’s cash reserves would be modest at first, it could grow to channel significant funds into community initiatives over the next decade. The proposal has been sent to the Board of Supervisors for examination and approval, and it aligns with California’s authorization for cities to explore public banking. The Bank of North Dakota’s success and impact on various sectors provide insights into how a public bank could benefit San Francisco.

Read the article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to fund the first phase of a public bank that would empower communities and support projects driven by public interest. A public bank would be more beneficial than private banks in serving Los Angeles’ Black and Latino communities, small businesses, green energy initiatives, and affordable housing projects. To tackle our housing crisis, the LA public bank could build or preserve over 17,000 affordable housing units within 10 years, assist with construction loans, convert housing into affordable stock, provide mortgage assistance, and prevent the conversion of affordable housing into upscale homes. Low-income communities of color stand to benefit greatly from a public bank, as it would offer lower-cost debt, free banking, alternative credit scoring methods, and help employees purchase small businesses. It’s a chance to create targeted wealth and job stability for neglected communities. The LA public bank would be funded by deposits from the city, pension funds, and green mutual funds, bypassing expensive Wall Street middlemen. This means more direct access to funds for local government projects. The LA Times interviews key figures, discussing the far-reaching impact of the public bank on communities across Los Angeles, including CPBA and PBLA co-founder Trinity Tran.

Read the coverage in the LA Times.

California cities, from Los Angeles to San Francisco to the East Bay, are moving full steam ahead on public banking! LA recently approved funding for Phase 1 to plan and implement Public Bank Los Angeles, SF Public Bank is working to fund a Municipal Finance Corporation that will scale up to a public bank, and Public Bank East Bay is making moves on a business plan for a regional public bank. California leads the way in the movement to reclaim public funds from Wall Street banks and reinvest them in local communities.

Read the article on Next City.

Trinity Tran’s article, “Transcending Finance with Public Banking,” part of the Institute for the Future’s “Imagining Equity: Explorations into the Future of Enterprise” series, discusses the public banking movement’s goal to address longstanding issues in the financial system, including fraudulent activities by big banks like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. Instead of relying on big banks, cities and states are turning to public banks to invest in their communities, with California passing legislation allowing for the creation of city and regional public banks. Public banks prioritize community needs, such as affordable housing, clean energy, and public transit, while also offering cost savings to taxpayers and expanding banking services for those with limited options. With several California cities and counties exploring the creation of their own banks and federal legislation in the works, the public banking movement is gaining momentum. Building a network of public banks at the local and state levels can help create a more equitable financial system.

Read the essay on IFTF.

Read on Medium.

The Alliance’s Rick Girling penned an op-ed discussing the banking system’s shortcomings following Silicon Valley and Signature Banks’ collapse. Advocates propose public banks to offer fair services and break the cycle of bank failures and bailouts.

Read the article on El Tecolote
Artwork: Mural Doctor

The Alliance’s Julian LaRosa’s latest piece in Jacobin. Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse was no aberration: hundreds of private banks in the US have failed since the Great Recession. For a more stable financial system that actually meets ordinary people’s needs, we need to expand public banking.

One of the great philosopher-artists of the 2000s and 2010s (though maybe not so much in recent years) once said, “No one man should have all that power,” and this nugget of wisdom has been ringing in my head over the past two weeks. In a Slack chat among prominent VCs and startup execs, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel orchestrated the beginnings of a bank run against one of the most influential banks and the financial backbone of the Bay Area tech scene, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), ultimately bringing the bank to its knees within days.

What happened with Silicon Valley Bank? Because banks don’t keep all their deposits on hand — deposits are used to provide loans or to buy various securities like bonds — they rely on depositors not all coming for their bags at once. But occasionally, a wave of withdrawals leads to banks panicking and liquidating their assets to cover newly withdrawn deposits — sparking further hysteria as everyone races to get their money out. Then down goes the bank, sending shockwaves across the economy.

This is more or less what happened to Silicon Valley Bank after Thiel advised his portfolio companies to pull their deposits out of SVB. Over the weekend, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) intervened, closing the nation’s sixteenth-largest bank and forcing it to liquidate its assets and make depositors whole. In a couple days, we saw the largest bank failure since the Great Recession and the collapse of Washington Mutual.

Following the collapse of SVB, spooked depositors at Signature Bank rushed to withdraw $10 billion, triggering a federal closure of both banks to contain the potential contagion. Stocks across the financial sector then plummeted throughout the United States and across the pond. The year had already been a rough one for Credit Suisse, its stock price slumping even before the SVB-induced crash. But once the heat turned up and depositors started fleeing, the Swiss Central Bank stepped in to provide a $54 billion bailout to keep Switzerland’s largest bank afloat.

In the subsequent days, the press watched the situation like a hawk. Who would be next? Were we in for another Great Recession? Would workers be able to get their next paychecks?

Yet the corporate media missed a key point: banks, when left to their own devices, will fail. SVB certainly wasn’t the first, and it won’t be the last. Since the Great Recession over 560 banks have failed in the United States, often followed by Wall Street titans swallowing up their assets. Banks that were too big to fail in 2008 have grown still larger as the financial sector becomes more and more concentrated. Regulations meant to constrain financial chicanery have proven too weak to the task.

So the question is, what do we do moving forward? Do we continue to let the vultures prey on their dying competitors? Will the government keep having to bail out reckless banks?

Continue reading in Jacobin.

March 18, 2023. Trinity Tran, Truthout.

We have a pivotal opportunity to reshape our financial system for the benefit of all.

The recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank — the second and third largest bank failures in U.S. history respectively — has laid bare the vulnerability of the private banking sector.

With over 563 federally insured banks toppling between 2001 and 2023, it’s impossible to ignore: The status quo is unsustainable. Amid this financial turbulence, the need for public banking has never been more pressing. It’s high time we seriously consider public banking as a stable, transparent, and accountable alternative that would firmly anchor public interest at the heart of the financial system. After all, banking should be a public utility that benefits everyone, not a high-risk game played by bankers trying to score big profits.

The failures of SVB, Signature and Silvergate banks can be traced back to poor management decisions and high-risk strategies. SVB invested in long-term government securities amid concerns about rising interest rates as well as the volatile venture capital industry, while Signature and Silvergate banks ventured into speculative cryptocurrencies. All three banks shared one common problem: massive uninsured deposits from a handful of ultra-wealthy customers.

When the banks teetered on the edge of collapse, the Biden administration, FDIC, and Treasury swooped in with a bold bailout. They created a “systemic risk exception” to protect all deposits, even those beyond the $250,000 threshold. Ironically, all depositors were “made whole” from the Deposit Insurance Fund — the very fund that Silicon Valley Bank had previously lobbied against, arguing that increased contributions would hurt their bottom line.

This intervention raises a crucial question: If the government is ultimately responsible for ensuring the banking system’s stability, why not opt for public banks designed to serve the public interest from the outset?

Continue reading on Truthout.

San Francisco is taking bold steps towards establishing a Municipal Finance Corporation that is set to become a public bank within the next three to five years. The city aims to launch the $50 million Municipal Finance Corporation, with a focus on financing infrastructure projects, affordable housing initiatives, and small businesses.

The establishment of a public bank in San Francisco has been a long-awaited goal for many activists and community leaders. Public Bank SF is expected to bring more transparency and accountability to the banking industry, putting the needs of the community first instead of prioritizing profits for shareholders.

The city’s decision to create a Municipal Finance Corporation is a crucial step in achieving this goal. The corporation will act as a bridge between the city and its residents, providing access to low-cost credit and financial services that are tailored to the community’s needs.

Read the article on SF Chronicle.