Working together let’s establish a Public Bank for New Mexico, to finance the bold changes it will take for our communities to overcome today’s obstacles and seize tomorrow’s opportunities.
The Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity (AFLEP) is a nonprofit, grassroots think tank advocating for a state public bank. New Mexico’s revenue (taxes and fees) is now largely invested in global banks outside the state, missing opportunities to invest in the economic needs of New Mexico communities. Learn more:
Endorse a Public Bank for New Mexico
Endorse a public bank so public officials and friends know you support public banking and why.
Allied Organizations that support what a State Public Bank can do for our economy
National News
Hear Us: Public Banking for Racial Justice
June 8, 2022 | Next City Op-Ed, by Lebaron Sims – More than a decade after the Great Recession, America is again experiencing a supply-side recovery. Whether via the $700 billion bailout of 2008 or the unchecked exponential growth of 2022, commercial banks and financial corporations eat first – while most Americans, especially the working-class Black and Brown communities most affected by crisis, struggle without support. Then and now, that contrast is particularly sharp in New York City, a global center of finance, the home of countless banks, and an early epicenter of the pandemic. Members of Public Bank NYC (PBNYC), a coalition of organizations and other stakeholders committed to financial justice in New York City, had another vision, rooted in racial equity and environmental justice.
REPORT: Public Banking Key to Building Community Wealth in New York City
May 26, 2022 | DEMOS – Wall Street has a long history of putting profits over people. The big banks perpetuate structural racism in housing, labor, and climate. Instead of serving the public good, they prioritize shareholder returns over the needs of people and communities. A public bank in New York City would help combat the racist and extractive banking system and build community wealth. Each year, the City of New York moves tens of billions of public dollars through Wall Street banks—the same banks that persistently redline NYC’s neighborhoods of color, that finance private prisons, fossil fuel extraction, and other destructive industries.
Wells Fargo Rejected Half Its Black Applicants in Mortgage Refinancing Boom
March 10, 2022 | by Shawn Donnan, Ann Choi, Hannah Levitt and Christopher Cannon
When Mauise Ricard III paid a $560.43 application fee to Wells Fargo & Co. on Valentine’s Day in 2020 to refinance his mortgage on a four-bedroom brick colonial in a leafy suburb of Atlanta, he had every reason to expect an easy ride. The Microsoft Corp. engineer is married to a doctor and has a credit score north of 800, putting him in America’s credit elite. The loan officer at the bank even told him he was probably eligible for a fast-track appraisal.
New Mexico News
State Employees Credit Union, former CEO Harold Dixon talks about why he sees a need for a public bank in New Mexico
May 28, 2022 – Retake Our Democracy's Paul Gibson explores public banking mis-information with Harold, and some key ways a public bank can improve New Mexico's economy – like expanding the lending capacity of community banks and credit unions, reducing State bond...
Report From Santa Fe – Senator Jeff Steinborn recap of 2022 Session
February 6, 2022 Episode – Report from Santa Fe’s guest is Senator Jeff Steinborn, D–Dona Ana, with a legislative update on issues the senator advocates for, such as uranium mine cleanups in western NM, the prohibition of high-level nuclear waste in NM, public banking, and the renewal of the chile labor incentive program.

SEED NM 2022 Symposium: Bob Mang on how business guilds can regenerate communities
SEED NM 2022 Symposium: Bob Mang on how business guilds can regenerate communities
Bob Mang, Re-Genesis Inc, Co-Founder (Retired) and AFLEP Board member, talks about rural economic development and how business guilds can regenerate communities.
Public Banking Institute
Accross the nation, more than 25 initiatives and 50 grassroots organizations are advocating for the chartering of public banks. Learn more about the National Movement and the work of our national affiliate, the Public Banking Institute.
- North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation during the 2007-08 recession. Current Sept 2020 rates: North Dakota, 3.8%; U.S., 7.9%; New Mexico, 9.4%.
- Bank of North Dakota (BND) has added to the state’s annual operating budget $300+ million over the past 10 years.
- North Dakota community banks are thriving because of their partnerships with BND: 10 community banks per 100,000 population, the highest in the U.S.
- BND originated or renewed 15,696 loans to state businesses, projects and students, totaling $1.33 billion in 2019. The total loan portfolio is $4.5 billion.
- BND works actively to create successful new businesses to reduce the state’s dependence on oil and gas.
- Founded in 1919 with $2 million in capital, BND reported assets of $7.0 billion at the end of 2019.
- BND responded to the COVID-19 crisis with confidence in 2020, filling the gaps that federal programs didn’t support and seeing a 15% Return on Investment (ROI).
Detailed Comparison of New Mexico and North Dakota
BND’s 2020 Economic Development Report: Creating Financial Solutions for Current and Emerging Economic Needs
BND 2020 Annual Report: Responding with Confidence