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 they handle their money and finance long-term projects. It also […]
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 support from labor unions, environmental groups, grassroots […]
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 municipalities or regions to create commercial banks that would […]
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 money are handled by commercial banks — for a […]
San Jose Inside talks to California Public Banking Alliance organizer Jake Tonkel with South Bay Progressive Alliance. Silicon Valley Bank opened in 1982 to serve startups shunned by big lenders, which saw the fledgling tech sector as innately risky. But Roger Smith and Bill Biggerstaff, the Wells Fargo defectors who founded the small bank with Stanford University professor […]
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 truly stuck between Scylla and Charybdis until a public banking option is available.” […]
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. It’s been urged forward by […]
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 Medearis, had deep roots in a culture that would turn […]
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 institutions. It will enable cities and […]
Our Revolution endorses California Assembly Bill 857, Public Banks. The resolution was introduced by Assembly members David Chiu (D – San Francisco) and Miguel Santiago (D – Los Angeles). The bill would make it easier for California cities and towns to establish their own public banks. Our Revolution endorses this bill because we believe that […]