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...
By Chase DiFeliciantonio, North Bay Business Journal. A bill that would allow some municipalities to establish their own banks in California edged through a state committee Wednesday. The legislation, Assembly Bill 857, passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on a 4-3 vote with the...
North Bay Business Journal talks with California Public Banking Alliance members Chris Petlock, Shelly Browning and Susan Harman. Should banks exist to make a profit, a difference, or both? A bill in the California Legislature allowing municipalities to create their own banks could upend how...
Beverly Press. The Public Banking Act, AB 857, passed its first hurdle in the California Senate on June 19. The measure passed through the Senate Banking Committee and now heads to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) said AB 857 has the broad...
By Tom Gogola, Pacific Sun. There’s an effort afoot in Sacramento for public banking that’s putting the focus on how localities manage their investment portfolios. A bill that’s currently parked in a Senate committee chaired by North Bay legislator Mike McGuire would, for the first time, allow...
By Scott Soriano, Capitol Weekly. The concept of public banking in California is making a comeback. By law, currently California cities and counties typically have one place to deposit the funds they collect from taxes, fees and fines: private commercial banks. Billions of dollars of public...
Bohemian.com talks with Friends of Public Banking Santa Rosa organizer and Alliance member Shelly Browning. PQ: “The activities of the top big banks in fossil fuels and many other activities gives us limited, to no options regarding large, socially responsible banking options. We are...
A California bill that would allow San Francisco to open a city-run bank cleared a key state Senate committee on Wednesday. Assembly Bill 857 paves the path for local jurisdictions to launch a public bank, which San Francisco and other California cities have been exploring for more than a year....
By Jennifer Wadsworth, Good Times. Silicon Valley Bank opened in 1982 to serve startups overlooked by big lenders, which saw the fledgling tech sector as inherently risky. Roger Smith and Bill Biggerstaff, the two Wells Fargo defectors who founded the small bank with Stanford professor Robert...
Alliance organizer Julian Larosa pens a letter in The Mercury News. The California State Assembly voted to pass the Public Banking Act (AB 857), and the bill now heads to the Senate for approval. This important legislation will provide cities a pathway to a safe alternative to Wall Street...