Cities and counties currently hold billions of dollars of public money in Wall Street banks. Legally, these corporate banks control this money and can use it for strictly profit-motivated purposes, without regard for environmental impacts, social good, or betterment of the local economy that provided the funds. Their investments prioritize harmful industries such as fossil fuels that place profit over small local businesses, regional infrastructure, and care for the planet. 

The California Public Banking Act (AB 857) is the law that permits cities and counties to form their own banks. With the legal framework for public banks now established in California, we now have the opportunity 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.