California city plots risky socialist bank modeled after controversial experiment
San Francisco voters will decide whether the city should have a public bank after city supervisors this week approved such a proposal to appear on the November ballot.The city would be the first in the nation to have a municipal government-owned bank.Only the state of North Dakota runs a major public bank in the nation.But the city’s proposal gives no answer as to where the estimated $325 million in start-up costs will come from as the city faces a $643 million budget deficit.“In a moment like this, asking voters to commit San Francisco to potentially running a financial institution is asking for trust the city has not yet earned,” said Supervisor Alan Wong, one of the two votes against placing the measure on the ballot.
“Our city’s track record shows that meeting those demands is harder than it sounds, even for institutions designed with the right intentions,” he added.Socialist Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who just returned from a months-long mental health leave, indicated that future legislation would figure out a revenue steam.Supporters of a bank wanted to get ahead of a 2028 expiration date for a state law that gives cities the power to create their own public banks.“It feels like an incredible tool to add to the city’s tool kit,” Misha Steier, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Public Bank Coalition, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The coalition was founded by Fielder.“This is the culmination of years and years of movement effort,” Steier said.
A city bank, supporters say, would unlock financing for thousands of housing units that lack funding to address the housing crisis.It could finance climate goals or lend to small businesses in the area.“This ensures we have an institution run by real bankers that is accountable, nevertheless, to public priorities and public policy priorities,” Fielder said.
“We can build a public bank that prioritizes reinvesting back into what we all need to sustain our local communities,” added Sup...