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Banking On it
Santa Fe may cut library hours and increase park fees as a way to trim the budget. For many people in Districts 3 and 4, this is the only leisure activity outside their homes that they can afford. As the City Council cuts the budget, I ask councilors to make fair, equitable decisions that recognize […]
Proposed Constitutional Amendment for the State of Colorado To Establish a Publicly-Owned State Bank
Proposed Constitutional Amendment for the State of Colorado
Note: Colorado public bank advocates are once again moving forward toward establishing a Public Bank for Colorado! On April 20, 2016, a measure was unanimously approved by the Colorado State Elections Division Title Board to put a Colorado Constitutional Amendment forward establishing a state-owned bank for further consideration and public dissemination. Colorado’s previous effort was stymied by challenge at the State Supreme Court under considerations of the TABOR amendment, which restricts government agencies from operating outside of fixed financial and taxation frameworks. The current version sidesteps that issue completely. In order for Colorado advocates to get this onto the ballot, a petition drive for about 100,000 signatures will be necessary. Initiative for State-Owned Bank 2015-2016 (CO.)
Reader View: Santa Fe Could Use A Public Bank
A study funded by the City of Santa Fe was released in mid-January. It both supported the feasibility of a public bank in Santa Fe and increased public interest in the idea. The financial crisis of 2008 followed unscrupulous behavior of Wall Street banks. Then Main Street was hung out to dry while the Federal […]
Regional Fed banks should be public, says Yellen’s ex-advisor
SAN FRANCISCO/RUSTON, La. (Reuters) – A former top Federal Reserve policy advisor called Monday for the Fed’s 12 regional outposts to be made government entities, rather than owned, as they have been since their inception more than a century ago, by the banks they regulate.
Banks own shares in their regional Fed bank and appoint six of the nine members of the board, including three bank executives. While the Fed’s powerful Washington-based Board, including the Fed Chair, is a government entity, the regional Fed banks are not. The U.S. central bank is the world’s only major central bank that is not fully public.
Dartmouth College Professor Andrew Levin also called for seven-year term limits for all Fed policymakers, and stronger outside oversight of the U.S. central bank including annual reviews of monetary policy.
Policymakers often serve a decade or more before retiring, and the details of monetary policymaking have always been a closely guarded secret, with transcripts of meetings released only after a five-year interval.
Levin, who advised Fed Chair Janet Yellen when she was Fed vice chair, released the proposals via the Fed Up Coalition, a network of community organizations and labor unions calling for change to the U.S. central bank. It is unclear how they will be received by other Fed critics who have called for even more sweeping changes, or the institution itself, which has largely resisted reform proposals.
Banking For Community
The city of Santa Fe has to deposit public funds in a chartered bank somewhere, so why not establish our own public bank for Santa Fe? That way the taxes, fees, licenses and fines we all pay can benefit our community rather than private shareholders who live someplace else. Bank decisions would be made by […]
A Smart Investment
I was listening to state officials discuss cutting services when one constituent asked about creating “new” revenues. I thought about how smart the city of Santa Fe is in its quest to create a public bank. Over the past five years, Santa Fe has spent more than $7 million for fees to issue municipal bonds […]
Looking Ahead
Kudos to the forward-thinking city of Santa Fe and consultant Katie Updike for the excellent public banking feasibility study. Kudos, too, for Banking On New Mexico and the Brass Tacks’ five-year model. Both studies may be found at bankingonnewmexico.org. Thousands of hours of thinking outside the box have gone into the creation of a chartered […]
Yes To Public Banking
I have read both the Santa Fe Public Banking Feasibility Study Final Report and the Banking on New Mexico’s Five-Year Model report. Both studies show that a public bank will significantly reduce debt while keeping our taxpayers’ money in Santa Fe, not invested out of state. It can also make a profit, which will benefit […]
City leaders eye new taxes, more use of utility reserves
By Daniel J. Chacón The New Mexican, Posted: Tuesday, February 9, 2016 11:30 pm | Updated: 9:59 am, Wed Feb 10, 2016. Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales and at least half of the City Council on Tuesday proposed that the city raise taxes and continue to tap the city-owned water utility in the form […]
Great Minds with Ellen Brown: Why Public Banks Make More Sense (part 2)
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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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