Thread: Thanks to the work of #PublicBank activists, we are bringing the Public Banking conversation to Long Beach city council. Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5pm, we will be encouraging city council to ask the City Manager to conduct a feasibility study on Public Banking in Long Beach.
This is the 1st major step in making a #LongBeachPublicBank a reality. Here’s an excerpt of the letter that @fightdenial and I sent to every city council member: Last year, the Public Banking Act (#AB857) was passed in the CA legislature and was signed into law by Gov Newsom.
This bill was supported by @AsmPatODonnell and @SenGonzalez_33. #AB857 allows local governments to apply for a banking charter from the Department of Business Oversight (DBO) to establish a public bank.
This important legislation empowers our local government to invest, lend, and provide banking services to our Long Beach community. A #LongBeachPublicBank will:
✅ Partner with other local banks and non-profit credit institutions to extend credit to our communities..
✅ Partner with other local banks and non-profit credit institutions to extend credit to our communities..
✅ Expand services to the underbanked.
✅ Return interest and fee revenues to our local communities, creating value and revenue reserves for the city.
✅ Bolster and enhance local bank and credit union activities, increasing lending capital for local businesses.
✅ Return interest and fee revenues to our local communities, creating value and revenue reserves for the city.
✅ Bolster and enhance local bank and credit union activities, increasing lending capital for local businesses.
✅ Enable a viable means of publicly financing housing and infrastructure projects to remediate our local housing crisis.
✅ Promote a transparent, independent and publicly governed finance system that is accountable to Long Beach residents.
✅ Promote a transparent, independent and publicly governed finance system that is accountable to Long Beach residents.
✅ Create a stable means to divest public funds and investments from banking organizations and industries that may not align with the values of our communities
✅ Provide strong protections against insolvency of large banks in periods of economic duress.
✅ Provide strong protections against insolvency of large banks in periods of economic duress.
To ensure proper accountability, our local #PublicBank would have oversight at the state level by the DBO, at the federal level by the FDIC, and locally by a professional board.
In contrast to profit-driven commercial banks, the #PublicBank’s board will have a fiduciary duty to protect taxpayers’ assets. Unlike a privately-owned bank which prioritizes shareholder returns, public banks leverage their deposit base and lending power to benefit the public.
A #LongBeachPublicBank would consider the needs of our community and leverage public funds to meet those needs at a lower cost than the private sector.
We are excited to bring to Long Beach an insured financial institution that measures its return on investment not only by profits, but also by its success in supporting our local community.
We urge City Council to support the recommendation to have the City Manager conduct a feasibility study on #PublicBanking in Long Beach. This initial step would be a moderate use of staff time. Any additional study costs would come back to the City Council to be discussed.
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