Press Room & Media
In the News
California Opens the Public Banking Floodgates
By Aaron Fernando, The Progressive – The California Public Banking Act was signed into law by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, making it explicitly legal for municipalities in California to create their own public banks and use those banks to hold and leverage public funds. The move shifts power away from profit-motivated board members of corporate banks and into the hands of the people. The question at the heart of public banking may seem technical but is actually about political power. Should small groups of wealthy corporate board members get to decide how to leverage public money so that they may further enrich themselves?
The People V Wall Street: California’s Public Banking Shake-Up
By Glenn Daigon, Who.What.Why. – For only the second time in 100 years, a people-powered coalition overcame the stiff opposition of the banking lobby to successfully pass a law that legalizes public banking. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law last month allowing California cities and towns to establish public banks. “We finally have the option of reinvesting our public tax dollars in our communities instead of rewarding Wall Street’s bad behavior,” said AB 857 sponsor and California Assembly member David Chiu.
How a brief socialist takeover in North Dakota gave residents a public bank
By Will Peischel, The Highlight by VOX The policy: public banks Where: North Dakota In place since: 1919 The problem: There’s a legislative fight brewing in California. Supporters are pushing a public banking law that could redefine the state’s financial...
California Just Legalized Public Banks. Will the Rest of the Nation Follow Suit?
Ananya Garg, Yes! Magazine – The Standing Rock movement in 2016 brought together Indigenous activists from across the nation to fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. One of the demands of this movement included divestment from Wells Fargo, a bank that was funding development of the pipeline. This brought into the spotlight one of the biggest issues concerning economic justice in the United States: big banks.
California just legalized public banking, setting the stage for more affordable housing
By Mario Koran, The Guardian – Cities and counties in California will be allowed to create their own public banks, making the state one of just two to legalize institutions of that kind. Supporters say the change sets the stage for funding infrastructure demands or providing loans to developers to help meet affordable housing needs.
Public banks can be formed in California as Newsom signs new law
By James F. Peltz, LA Times – California cities and counties will be allowed to establish public banks under a controversial bill signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, making California only the second U.S. state to allow such institutions. “Today’s signing sends a strong message that California is putting people before Wall Street profits,” said Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), who co-authored the bill (AB 857) with Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles).
Public banking can fund green investment
By Eric Heath, The Hill – To ensure the long-term environmental health of the planet, we will have to spend. This spending cannot be wasteful, but must embody a pragmatic investment in our future. Estimates predict that we will have to invest $5.7 trillion worldwide annually to fund green infrastructure and conservation efforts. As a Center for Strategic and International Studies brief notes, this investment gap is concentrated in developed countries. In recognition of America’s responsibility for swift and consequential action…
Wall Street Beware: The Public Banking Movement Is Coming for You
By Robert R. Raymond, Truthout – It may not come as a surprise to hear that the majority of Americans don’t trust the banking system in this country. Only 27 percent of those surveyed in a 2016 Gallup poll said they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the institution — less than half of the record high set in 1979. And the lack of trust is spread relatively evenly across the political spectrum — it’s not just liberals or those on the left: Almost everyone is fed up with the banks.
The one strategy that could finance the whole Green New Deal
By Eillie Anzilotti, Fast Company – The current banking system in the U.S. doesn’t meet the equity or environmental aims of the Green New Deal. But the push to establish government-run banks that do is gaining momentum as an alternative. For the latter half of 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux and activist allies from all over the country camped out in North Dakota to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was likely to harm their native lands through an invasive engineering process and inevitable oil spills.
California public banking bill clears another state Senate committee as momentum generates a swell of press coverage
Public Banking Institute – On July 3, California’s Public Banking Act, AB 857, passed the Senate Governance & Finance Committee 4 Aye’s to 3 No’s. In the extended hearing, Assemblymember David Chiu, the bill’s co-author, emphasized, “Something is truly broken with the present financial system.” The bill has one more committee — Senate Appropriations — before the Senate floor vote.
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Episode: Everyone deserves a public bank
“I had the good fortune to work on this initiative before Bernie kidnapped all my time. This is one of those no-brainer initiatives that only the 1% could oppose. It has the potential to save the state millions of dollars by vastly reducing the cost of its bonds to improve infrastructure funding. in a public bank, our state funds can be used to build our local economy and our local infrastructure.”
– Paul Gibson
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