Who we are

The California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) is a coalition of public banking activists in California working to create socially and environmentally responsible city and regional public banks.
Public banking serves as a powerful tool to keep taxpayer dollars in local communities.  
Cities and counties hold billions of dollars of public money in Wall Street banks. Legally, these corporate banks own and control this money which they have used to finance harmful industries including: private prisons, immigrant detention centers, weapons manufacturers, fossil fuel pipelines, and other investments that prioritize corporate profit over the people and the planet. These too-big-too-fail banks are also engaged in risky and fraudulent practices that crashed the global economy in 2008.
We have the opportunity now to build a new alternative banking system through locally-controlled socially and environmentally responsible public banks, enabling cities and counties to recapture public dollars and have a say over the financing of our own communities.

Charter

With a bank operating for the people instead of private shareholders, the flow of capital can better reflect the values of our local communities. This can be ensured by creating public banking charters based on a framework of responsibility, transparency and accountability. 

People's Banks

Through locally controlled public banks, chartered with socially and environmentally responsible mandates, we can build a public banking model to become a nationwide network of People’s Banks, 100% responsive to the needs of our local communities.

Save Money

The banks would in turn provide credit to fund public infrastructure projects and reinvest in local communities, while simultaneously reducing expenses previously incurred from extractive private banks.

Community

The municipal bank model holds the potential to improve many areas that directly impact our communities including: low-income housing, small business development, infrastructure and energy, and serving the needs of unbanked and underbanked populations.

Take action to support public banking!

Sign our petition to create city-level and regional public banks in California. We are collecting signatures of support for the California Public Banking Alliance AB 857 legislative proposal. This will make it easier to establish public banks at the local level, so we can rebuild our local economy.

Sign the Petition

The California Public Banking Alliance is an ever-growing coalition that includes labor, environmental groups, tenant rights’ groups, financial institutions, Democratic clubs, elected officials, local governments, civil rights groups, sustainable transportation and energy alliances, and grassroots organizations from across California united to support local public banking.

Endorse the California Public Banking Alliance

Join the Movement

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