Progress

Progress/Highlights

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

[Updated 6/5/2019]

The California Public Banking Act #AB857 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY! On to the Senate!

May 30, 2019 - A short while ago, the California State Assembly voted to pass AB 857, the local public banking bill! It received 41 Yes votes, the bare minimum needed to keep the bill alive. Our work in Sacramento isn't done—now it's on to the Senate. But now we're taking some time to savor this hard-won victory.

Extraordinary work, everyone! Thank you for your work on this! Stay tuned for the next step! The big banks are going to come after us. We are asking for all hands on deck!

Public banks help our municipalities to defund the fossil fuel industry, prison labor, detention centers and more. Public banks can help us put money back into our communities. A lot is at stake here, which is why two years after the camps at Standing Rock burned, the Solidarity with Standing Rock divestment team continues to work on divestment and public banking.

A huge THANK YOU to Assemblymembers Santiago and Chiu, the bill's authors, and to all who worked for this day! The final tally:

The Alliance for a Just Recovery Supports Public Banking

December 17, 2018 - We are proud to announce that the 20+ member organizations of the Alliance for a Just Recovery have incorporated public banking into their Common Agenda for a Just, Equitable and Sustainable Recovery. We are very pleased that these 20+ organizations recognize that public banking can play a critical role in our region's recovery and rebuild. If the city runs its own bank, it can save millions in fees paid to Wall Street banks. About 50% of the cost of infrastructure is financing. If the city finances through its own bank, it can save up to half of the cost. These considerable savings can help the city to finance the changes we need, including: affordable housing, a sustainable, green rebuild, climate resilience, and transitioning to renewable energy. As a wholesale bank, a public bank can partner with local banks to offer low interest loans, rather than compete with them.

"In the wake of the terrible firestorm that hit Sonoma County in October of 2017, North Bay Jobs with Justice quickly mobilized community, environmental, housing and labor organizations to meet and form the Alliance for a Just, Equitable and Sustainable Recovery (Alliance for a Just Recovery, or AJR, for short). The Alliance for a Just Recovery meets every month to review current issues facing our community in regards to the rebuild, and has been working since November of 2017 to put together a policy platform with which individuals and organizations can use to help ensure our community recovers not just for some but for all."
-- North Bay Jobs with Justice website

Members of the alliance include:

North Bay Jobs with Justice • North Bay Labor Council • North Bay Organizing Project • Graton Day Labor Center • Sonoma County Conservation Action • Sonoma Valley Housing Group • 350 Sonoma • Democratic Socialists of America North Bay • Sonoma County Transportation and Land Use Coalition • Transition Sonoma Valley • Greenbelt Alliance • Sonoma County Democratic Party

For more information about the Alliance, see:

Recommendations on public banking included in the Common Agenda for a Just Recovery:

ajr_common_agenda_for_a_just_recovery_-_public_banking_final.pdf
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Sonoma County Democratic Party Passes Resolution in Support of Public Banking
January 14, 2014 - We are pleased and grateful the Sonoma County Democratic Party passed a resolution supporting public banking. You can read the resolution here:

sonoma_county_democratic_party_-_support_public_banking.pdf
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