Great news over the summer! CalAccount, the statewide program to provide free financial services to the unbanked and underbanked, is moving ahead. We officially secured $2.7 million from the state budget to fund the CalAccount market analysis and Blue Ribbon Commission as required by AB 1177, the CA Public Banking Option Act, landmark legislation that […]
Sacramento, CA – Members of the community coalition supporting the CalAccount program applauded Governor Newsom’s focus on ensuring all Californians have equitable access to financial services in the May Revision Budget proposal presented on May 13th for fiscal year 2022-23. The May Revision budget allocates $4 million to complete the market analysis, the first step […]
NextCity – Twice a year, when property owners pay their local property tax bills, Alameda County Treasurer Hank Levy sees a huge influx of cash into county coffers. After paying off the county’s own bills and other expenses, there’s always some cash left over that doesn’t need to be spent right away — though it’s […]
People’s World – For too long a handful of corporate banks have controlled the financial destiny of the overwhelming majority of Americans. Throughout American history, a commercial oligarchy was responsible for feeding corporate greed and when markets collapsed from too much debt and not enough resources to adequately fund it, countless millions of workers and […]
Public banking is on a roll! On Wednesday March 30, 2022, over 170 community members joined the California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) Town Hall featuring elected officials from cities and regions actively working to form public banks. People across the nation are turning out to learn more about public banking — and Californians are at […]
SF Gate – March 15, 2022. A vision for a public bank in the East Bay– and possibly only the second one in the country– got a boost Tuesday when Alameda County Supervisors voted to give $75,000 to a group aiming to start one. Supervisors voted unanimously to give the money to Friends of the […]
Public Banking took a huge leap forward this year with many first-in-the-nation accomplishments. • Passage of first-in-the-nation bill for universal free banking services. The California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) and our allies pushed the California Legislature to enact Assembly Bill 1177 in order to provide financial services for unbanked or underbanked Californians. On October 4, […]
Dollars and Sense features Rick Girling’s article in the September/October issue. Read his follow-up piece “Corporate Bankers Wary of Public Banking” on Page 8 of the November/December Issue. Ever-growing inequality has helped consolidate and concentrate corporate control over the U.S. economy. The financial sector is a prime example. This issue’s third feature article, by public banking […]
Next City – October 12, 2021. Out of eight million unbanked households across the country, one million are in California alone. The state is now looking to address this by taking a page out of the former USPS savings account playbook. Assembly Bill 1177, passed in September and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last week, […]
ABC7 News – October 8, 2021. Los Angeles might be the first major metropolitan city to create a public bank. A public bank would be owned and operated by the city. Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to take the first steps in seeing the viability of a public bank. According to city councilmembers, it […]