{"id":49130,"date":"2026-07-10T13:34:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T20:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49130"},"modified":"2026-07-10T13:34:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T20:34:03","slug":"san-francisco-could-create-the-nations-first-city-run-public-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/san-francisco-could-create-the-nations-first-city-run-public-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco could create the nation&#8217;s first city-run public bank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jul 8, 2026\u00a0&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/san-francisco\/news\">News<\/a> (Axiox.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.axios.com%2FkDq2XsrVt0z3-H6abcu_PbL3BR4%3D%2F52x0%2Fsmart%2F2024%2F11%2F22%2F1732313623522.jpg&amp;w=128&amp;q=75\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/authors\/nlopez\">Nadia Lopez<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/hi8rrw3br6KkDYBmvTIjwcMpnCk=\/1920x1080\/smart\/2024\/07\/17\/005744-1721177864219.jpg?w=3840\" alt=\"Illustration of a person holding out a bag of money surrounded by abstract shapes and money elements.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi\/Axios<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco voters will&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/news\/12058853\/san-francisco-public-bank-supporters-eye-2026-ballot-measure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">decide this November<\/a>&nbsp;whether the city should take the first step toward creating what could become the first city-run public bank in the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong>&nbsp;Supporters say a public bank could help finance affordable housing, small businesses and green infrastructure \u2014 projects that often struggle to get affordable loans from traditional banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Driving the news:<\/strong>&nbsp;The Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 this week to place the measure on the Nov. 3 ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Supervisors Alan Wong and Stephen Sherrill&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalw.org\/bay-area-news\/2026-07-07\/san-francisco-inches-toward-establishing-the-nations-first-city-owned-public-bank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dissented<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How it works:<\/strong>&nbsp;The ballot measure would create a municipal finance corporation \u2014 essentially the governance framework for a future public bank, KQED&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/news\/12089959\/san-francisco-supervisors-to-vote-on-public-bank-measure-for-november-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The bank would be run by professional bankers, but with public oversight. The city attorney, controller, treasurer-tax collector, mayor and supervisors would have appointment power.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The proposal would prohibit lending to fossil fuel companies and weapons manufacturers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yes, but:<\/strong>&nbsp;The measure would not provide the money needed to launch the bank, which would require about $325 million in startup capital before it could begin issuing loans, Mission Local&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/missionlocal.org\/2026\/07\/sf-public-bank-ballot-measure-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Backers have floated&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/missionlocal.org\/2026\/02\/sf-jackie-fielder-public-bank-ballot-measure-tax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a tax<\/a>&nbsp;on large financial institutions, philanthropic dollars or other public funding sources as potential options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying:<\/strong>&nbsp;District 9 Supervisor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/san-francisco\/2026\/03\/30\/san-francisco-board-supervisors-progressive-votes-fielder-absence-impact\">Jackie Fielder<\/a>, a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jackieforsf.com\/publicbank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">longtime public bank advocate<\/a>, said at this week&#8217;s meeting the proposal is about creating a financial institution &#8220;run by real bankers,&#8221; while still keeping it accountable to &#8220;public policy priorities,&#8221; per KQED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The other side:<\/strong>&nbsp;Wong warned that running a financial institution requires discipline, transparency and banking expertise, adding the city is asking voters for trust &#8220;it has not yet earned.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Our city&#8217;s track record shows that meeting those demands is harder than it sounds, even for institutions designed with the right intentions,&#8221; he said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zoom out:<\/strong>&nbsp;Public banks are rare in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bnd.nd.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Bank of North Dakota<\/a>&nbsp;is the only existing one, though they&#8217;re&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vancecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Public-Banking-Around-the-World-A-Comparative-Survey-of-Seven-Models.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more common globally<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What we&#8217;re watching:<\/strong>&nbsp;If voters approve the measure, the city would still need additional legislation and a funding plan before the bank could realistically open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>And that must be done before California&#8217;s law authorizing cities to create public banks&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org\/bills\/ca_202520260ab2243\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expires<\/a>&nbsp;in 2028.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jul 8, 2026\u00a0&#8211;News (Axiox.com) San Francisco voters will&nbsp;decide this November&nbsp;whether the city should take the first step toward creating what could become the first city-run public bank in the nation. Why it matters:&nbsp;Supporters say a public bank could help finance affordable housing, small businesses and green infrastructure \u2014 projects that&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/san-francisco-could-create-the-nations-first-city-run-public-bank\/\"> 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":[2174],"tags":[1912],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130"}],"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=49130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49131,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130\/revisions\/49131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}