Public Banking Benefits in Brief

Activists across the country are increasingly advocating for public banking as a way to ensure socially responsible banking by large institutions such as city and state governments, whose accounts are too big to be insured by local banks. Public banking also offers tremendous local financial benefits, desperately needed in the aftermath of the fires as the City of Santa Rosa will remain in severe financial crisis to build new housing, replace infrastructure, etc. for the unforeseeable future:

• Public banking can cut the cost of infrastructure up to HALF. This can be achieved by financing through the city's own bank, eliminating interest paid on bonds and returning the earned interest to the city's own operating budgets.

• It will save millions in banking fees to Wall Street banks.

• A public bank can actually boost the growth and success of local banks and credit unions, which in turn results in more local investment. As a wholesale bank, it does not compete with local banks and credit unions. As a wholesale bank, it has much lower overhead and can use those savings to offer low interest loans. The Public Bank of Santa Rosa would partner with local banks and credit unions to provide affordable credit to fund small businesses, student loans, housing construction, public infrastructure and clean energy programs.
• It can enable the city and other institutions to divest from banks which invest heavily in fossil fuels, which threaten and harm indigenous people, other poor communities - and the future of all of us.
  

• I​t will help keep​ our​ money local.

It's clear our cities will need more and more money to address and adapt to climate change. It is an idea whose time has come.

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[Updated 1/10/20

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Updates From Our Facebook Page

We post updates frequently about public banking to our Facebook page. That's the best place to look for updates. Here are a few recent updates from our Facebook page.

Cities and States Considering Starting a Public Bank

[Updated 8/28/2018] Officials in many cities and states as well as concerned citizens and local politicians across the country are actively investigating and pursuing public banking to address chronic budgetary shortfalls as well as address social, ethical and environmental concerns.

19 Cities:   Los Angeles, CA   •  New York City, NY  •  Oakland, CA  •  Berkeley, CA  •  Alameda, CA  •  Santa Cruz, CA  •  Eureka, CA  •  San Mateo, CA  •  Palo Alto, CA  •  San Francisco, CA  •  Seattle, WA  •  Portland, OR  •  Washington, DC  •  Philadelphia, PA  •  Richmond, CA  •  Santa Rosa, CA  •  Denver, CO  •  Minneapolis, MN  •  Santa Fe, NM

13 States:   New Jersey  •  California  •  New York  •  Alaska  •  Michigan  •  Vermont  •  Colorado  •  New Hampshire  •  Massachusetts  •  Arizona  •  New Mexico  •  Illinois  •  Rhode Island

Existing Public Banks in the U.S.

North Dakota  •  American Samoa

Though up until this year, the US has had only one public bank, the Bank of North Dakota, there are many public banks throughout the world. To learn more about public banking, see our Facebook page and our Articles, Resources page.