{"id":8995,"date":"2018-06-29T10:27:27","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T17:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=8995"},"modified":"2018-06-29T10:27:27","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T17:27:27","slug":"public-bank-that-would-boost-pot-shops-affordable-housing-could-go-before-l-a-voters-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/06\/29\/public-bank-that-would-boost-pot-shops-affordable-housing-could-go-before-l-a-voters-this-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Public bank that would boost pot shops, affordable housing could go before L.A. voters this fall"},"content":{"rendered":"<header id=\"top\" class=\"top full-columns\">\n<div id=\"f0dWSsH62HSSSq\" class=\"wrapper clearfix full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-header\" data-pb-name=\"Article Header\" data-pb-curated=\"curated\">\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"card-footer flex-container-row flex-mobile-column align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"byline-container flex-container-row align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"byline-image-container hidden-mobile spaced spaced-right spaced-sm spaced spaced-right spaced-sm\">\n<div class=\"byline-image\">\n<figure class=\"\">\n<div class=\" img-container \">By\u00a0<a class=\"uppercase\" href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/la-bio-james-rufus-koren-staff.html#nt=byline\" rel=\"author\" aria-label=\"James Rufus Koren\"><span class=\"uppercase\">JAMES RUFUS KOREN<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"byline-timestamp-container flex-container-row flex-tablet-column flex-mobile-column align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"timestamp-wrapper \"><span class=\"timestamp timestamp-article \">JUN 26, 2018\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"timestamp spaced spaced-sm spaced-left spaced-right \">|<\/span>\u00a0(LATimes.com)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><i class=\"fa fa-share button-icon-inset-accent\"><\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pb-container\"><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section id=\"left\" class=\"left guttered width-100\">\n<div id=\"f6TM6W162HSSSq\" class=\"wrapper clearfix full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-utilities-lead-art\" data-pb-name=\"Lead Art\" data-pb-curated=\"curated\">\n<div class=\"card card-captioned \">\n<div class=\"card-content\">\n<figure class=\"\">\n<div class=\"full-width img-container aspect-ratio-no-aspect\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"full-width\" src=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/resizer\/aLc-w4OYiivwbZqtyjcaYmJSURo=\/1400x0\/www.trbimg.com\/img-5b32bb89\/turbine\/la-1530051460-puu8wbdr0t-snap-image\" alt=\"Public bank that would boost pot shops, affordable housing could go before L.A. voters this fall\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-text spaced spaced-top spaced-sm flex-container-row justify-space-between \">\n<div><em>Marijuana for sale at the Greenlight Discount Pharmacy in Sylmar this past April. (Ricardo DeAratanmha \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/em><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"sharebar \"><button class=\"button button-icon button-icon-hover-accent \" role=\"button\" name=\"twitter\" aria-label=\"share on twitter\" data-arctrack=\"socialShareTwtr\" data-referrer=\"\"><i class=\"fa fa-twitter button-icon-inset-accent\"><\/i><\/button>\u00a0<button class=\"button button-icon button-icon-hover-accent \" name=\"facebook\" aria-label=\"share on facebook\" data-arctrack=\"socialShareFb\" data-referrer=\"\"><i class=\"fa fa-facebook-square button-icon-inset-accent\"><\/i><\/button><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fbJAgN162HSSSq\" class=\"wrapper clearfix full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-body\" data-pb-name=\"Article Body (Elements)\" data-pb-curated=\"curated\">\n<div class=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"collection collection-cards\">\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p data-page=\"1\">The Los Angeles City Council is preparing to ask voters if they want to create a publicly owned bank, something no city or state in the United States has done in nearly a century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>Council members voted Tuesday to start the process of putting a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that would allow for the creation of such a bank by amending the city charter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>The measure must receive final approval by July 3 in order to make the fall ballot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>The move is an early step in council President Herb Wesson\u2019s plan to create a public bank, which he said could offer accounts to scores of city cannabis businesses that are shunned by commercial banks because of federal drug laws. It also could help finance affordable housing, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>Even if the measure makes it on the ballot and is approved, establishing a city-owned bank is far from a sure thing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>The city has yet to consider how such a bank would be run, and to get it off the ground, the city may need to seek changes to state and federal laws that are focused on regulating privately owned banks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>What\u2019s more, a city report earlier this year suggested the costs of starting such a bank could be \u201cexorbitant.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>David Jette, legislative director of advocacy group Public Bank L.A., said putting the issue to a citywide vote could be a make-or-break moment for public banking, an idea that has gained steam since the financial crisis and lately seen an influx of support from the cannabis industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and the state of California are all in the process of studying whether they can or should start public banks, in part to serve cannabis businesses. For now, though, the U.S. has just one public bank: the Bank of North Dakota,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/la-fi-public-bank-marijuana-20170727-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">established in 1919<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card collection-item card-border-bottom card-border-bottom-thick card-border-bottom-dark\" data-type=\"text\">\n<div class=\" card-content \">\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re cautiously ecstatic,\u201d Jette said after Tuesday\u2019s vote. \u201cThis will be a referendum on the idea of public banking. I think this is an existential vote for our entire national movement.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"f0Cno9462HSSSq\" class=\"wrapper clearfix full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-author-bio\" data-pb-name=\"Author Bio\" data-pb-curated=\"curated\">\n<div class=\"card align-items-stretch flex-container-column card-border-bottom\">\n<div class=\"card-content flex-container-row align-items-stretch\">\n<figure class=\"\">\n<div class=\"left-element image-xs img-container aspect-ratio-1x1\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"b-lazy full-width b-loaded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/resizer\/ZbOqVIkXoNtYPR0tpx92qYCY4oo=\/1400x0\/www.trbimg.com\/img-572cf7b5\/turbine\/la-bio-james-rufus-koren\" alt=\"James Rufus Koren\" \/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"flex flex-container-column align-items-stretch\">\n<div class=\"flex-container-row flex-mobile-column align-items-stretch justify-space-between\">\n<div class=\"flex-container-column align-items-stretch\">\n<h6>James Rufus Koren<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex-container-row align-items-center\"><span class=\"byline hidden-tablet hidden-mobile uppercase contact spaced spaced-right spaced-md\">CONTACT<\/span><span class=\"buttonbar \"><i class=\"fa fa-twitter color-accent\"><\/i>\u00a0<i class=\"fa fa-facebook-square color-accent\"><\/i>\u00a0<i class=\"fa fa-envelope-o\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"preview-text\">James Rufus Koren covers banking and finance for the Los Angeles Times. He previously wrote for the Los Angeles Business Journal, where he covered banking, manufacturing and other industries, and for daily newspapers in Southern California and rural Michigan. He was raised in St. Louis and small-town Iowa, headed west to study at the University of Southern California and now lives in Long Beach.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0JAMES RUFUS KOREN JUN 26, 2018\u00a0|\u00a0(LATimes.com) Marijuana for sale at the Greenlight Discount Pharmacy in Sylmar this past April. (Ricardo DeAratanmha \/ Los Angeles Times) \u00a0 The Los Angeles City Council is preparing to ask voters if they want to create a publicly owned bank, something no city or state&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/06\/29\/public-bank-that-would-boost-pot-shops-affordable-housing-could-go-before-l-a-voters-this-fall\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8995"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8996,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8995\/revisions\/8996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}