{"id":27486,"date":"2023-07-21T12:55:13","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T19:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=27486"},"modified":"2023-07-21T12:55:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T19:55:13","slug":"sf-inches-closer-to-first-ever-public-bank-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/21\/sf-inches-closer-to-first-ever-public-bank-in-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"SF inches closer to first-ever public bank in The City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Adam%20Shanks\">By Adam Shanks | Examiner staff writer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jul 20, 2023\u00a0Updated\u00a01 hr ago  (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/4\/64\/46438482-5bca-11ed-8ad5-97ae8ecd1904\/63644690528ee.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"Dean Preston, Supervisor District 5, speaking at the Tenderloin Center closure protest\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Supervisor Dean Preston, seen at City Hall during a Nov. 3 protest, has championed the creation of a public bank in San Francisco.&nbsp;Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>City leaders are poised to accept a plan to create what could be the first municipally owned bank in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The San Francisco Public Bank would be tapped to finance construction of low-income housing, fund initiatives to combat climate change, and support small businesses. It would provide low-interest financing and investment in projects with social benefit where traditional banks have fallen short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though it might accept&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfgov.legistar.com\/View.ashx?M=F&amp;ID=12174034&amp;GUID=83C4EBD6-5D58-46CB-9B89-C8082F48EC3F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the plan in concept<\/a>, the Board of Supervisors will have to take further action to actually make a public bank a reality. It&#8217;s unclear exactly when that would happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea for a public bank in San Francisco, which has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/supe-proposes-working-group-to-develop-business-plan-for-sf-public-bank\/article_13f2a2e9-0b7d-524e-8725-a1ba1a5551f4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gained momentum in recent years<\/a>, is predicated on the belief that private banks have focused on returns for shareholders to the detriment of underserved communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The need for the San Francisco Public Bank is more urgent than it ever has been,&#8221; said Christin Evans, who chaired the working group that drafted the plan. &#8220;Economic disparity, the lack of affordable housing and climate change are all crises that large for-profit banks have, in various ways, contributed to.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The public bank could cover needs unmet by traditional banks. Khalid Samarrae, a policy analyst for The City&#8217;s Local Agency Formation Commission, explained that businesses are often unable to secure a small loan because, for the bank, &#8220;the amount of time it takes to do one loan for $10,000 is the same as a loan for $1 million.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;What we need in San Francisco is an entity that is focused on filling in that gap that private commercial banks are not interested in,&#8221; Samarrae explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study leading up to Tuesday&#8217;s hearing was done by the Reinvestment Working Group, which was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/sf-advances-plan-on-public-bank-to-the-board-of-supervisors\/article_89a26fa4-f684-11ed-9076-f3f8bda9509c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">created by the Board of Supervisors<\/a>&nbsp;and met over the last 18 months to build the proposed plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposal was vetted Thursday by the Board of Supervisors&#8217; Government Audit and Oversight Committee, which voted unanimously to recommend accepting the plan. It now moves to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/fewer-elections-more-voters-supervisors-proposal-to-increase-turnout\/article_00039c04-dd2c-11ec-812c-473034b09daf.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Supervisor Dean Preston<\/a>&nbsp;has championed the public bank, pitching it Thursday as a tool for the City&#8217;s post-pandemic economic recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s really a need to make sure we&#8217;re actually serving the needs of our community through how we invest capital in San Francisco,&#8221; Preston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plan is just that \u2014 a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The City has yet to develop a specific funding mechanism to get the public bank up and running. The Board of Supervisors would have to pass a separate ordinance to actually create a municipal bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plan calls for The City to first establish a municipal financing corporation, a legal entity that would be able to provide loans, but could not accept deposits and would not be federally insured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The three years for which it operates as a municipal financing corporation would essentially serve as proof of concept for a public bank, according to the plan&#8217;s engineers. The City would then make the case to regulators that it is ready to accept deposits and be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To financially kickstart the bank, its backers would explore state grants, philanthropy, and federal funds from the recently adopted Inflation Reduction Act. The plan supposes amassing $90 million in assets in year three of operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The public bank&#8217;s potential programs are varied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, it could provide short-term loans to potential affordable housing developers for planning work like engineering. It could also provide smaller loans, between $50,000 and $100,000, for nascent businesses that would struggle to secure one from a traditional bank. To help The City to achieve its green energy goals, the public bank could offer financing to building owners trying to electrify their properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As outlined by the Reinvestment Working Group, the public bank would be professionally run, with public oversight, and independent of political influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 2019 state bill, the California Public Banking Act, allowed cities like San Francisco explore the creation of a public bank. The legislation was co-authored by then-Assemblymember David Chiu, who now serves as the city attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco would be the first city in the country to establish a public bank, according to Preston, although others have shown interest. The state of North Dakota&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bnd.nd.gov\/public\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">operates a public bank<\/a>, which the San Francisco public bank&#8217;s backers have pointed to a shining example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Adam%20Shanks\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/avatars\/7\/0e\/fc3\/70efc372-d70d-11ec-981c-577dc43f214f.9cd60a12d877dd1bb0b7132c1d69ee33.png?_dc=1654126500\" alt=\"Adam Shanks\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Adam%20Shanks\">Adam Shanks<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>City leaders are poised to accept a plan to create what could be the first municipally owned bank in the country. The San Francisco Public Bank would be tapped to finance construction of low-income housing, fund initiatives to combat climate change, and support small businesses. It would provide low-interest financing&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/21\/sf-inches-closer-to-first-ever-public-bank-in-the-city\/\"> 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":[626],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27486"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27490,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27486\/revisions\/27490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}