Press Room & Media
In the News
Two-in-Three Voters Favor Creating National Green Bank
By Program for Public Consultation, University of Maryland – In a new in-depth survey, two thirds of registered voters favored legislation calling for the federal government to create a national green bank to invest in and promote private investment in clean energy. Green banks are public, non-profit banks and currently exist at state and local levels.
California Has a Plan to Restore Trust in Banking
By Oscar Perry Abello, Next City – In the state of California, around one million households are unbanked, according to the FDIC. The California State Assembly recently voted to approve a plan to create a state-branded bank account that would be offered to all Californians regardless of income, wealth, race or ethnicity, or immigration status. With its no-fee, no-minimum accounts, BankCal would attempt to restore that trust.
Big banks want communities of color to trust them. But it’s not so simple
By Samantha Masunaga & Jackeline Luna, Los Angeles Times – Communities of color have many reasons to distrust large national banks. In some cases, the wariness stems from racist practices in the financial system, such as redlining, or from past bank failures. In others, it arose from a lack of transparency about fees or a feeling that national banks want only certain kinds of customers.
National Infrastructure Bank will rebuild US
By Sen. Bill Tallman, Albuquerque Journal – Most people in the United States agree we need to make a massive investment in our nation’s infrastructure; however, we cannot agree on how to pay for it. As Congress takes up the issue, we urge them to join the growing legion of supporters for a new National Infrastructural Bank (NIB), to be established if the recently introduced H.B. 3339 is enacted
New center at NMSU aims to solve supply chain challenges
By Carlos Andres López, New Mexico State University – Faculty members from the College of Business at New Mexico State University launched the Center for Supply Chain Entrepreneurship with a mission to create an ecosystem that connects students and faculty to businesses and drives supply chain-focused entrepreneurial activity in New Mexico.
Public Bank Proposal Could Fund NJ Cannabis Entrepreneurs
By Dan Uloa, Heady NJ – NJ Cannabis entrepreneurs often have great difficulties thriving in the industry due to a lack of capital. A Public Bank could change that. The Public Bank could loan money and charge a lower interest rate to NJ cannabis entrepreneurs than a private bank. “It’s good for New Jersey to have more small businesses in cannabis distribution. It helps New Jersey because it creates competition and drives down the cost of marijuana.”
Bank of North Dakota report: ND received more funds per capita than any other state
By Bank of North Dakota – The state-owned Bank of North Dakota (BND) reported a profit of $141.2 million in 2020, down from $169 million in 2019 with a return on investment of 15%, according to information presented to the Industrial Commission (Commission) in BND’s annual 2020 report.The report’s theme, “Responding with Confidence,” focuses on the important role the Bank played by assisting residents in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Banking Can Improve the Lives of US Workers While Helping Save the Planet
By Paras Griffin, Truthout – The movement to create public banks is gaining ground in many parts of the U.S., particularly as part of an effort among activists and progressive lawmakers to extend banking access to low-income communities and communities of color in the post-COVID-19 economy. But how does public banking help protect the local community and assist with development?
A National Infrastructure Bank could solve the U.S.’s trillion-dollar infrastructure investment challenge
By Stanley R. Forczek, Mass Transit – Everybody agrees the United States’ crumbling infrastructure must be fixed. The problem is nobody knows how to pay for it. As Congress takes up the issue of financing infrastructure through the budget process, the creation of a new National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) becomes more urgent. This bank will cover projects that the federal budget and state and local governments are not able to cover.
Avangrid faces tough questions from New Mexico regulators in final hurdle to $8.3B PNM merger
By Scott Voorhis, Utility Drive – As the Connecticut-based Avangrid expands into the Southwest, the big power company faces a final regulatory hurdle in its proposed $8.3 billion merger with New Mexico-based PNM Resources. Avangrid and PNM have yet to secure the approval of New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission (PRC), with $60 million in penalties and cost disallowances Avangrid’s subsidiaries have been hit with in other states due to service and reliability issues now a major issue in the review.
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California’s New Public Banking Option Opens Door for Real Community Investment
FAIR / Truthout.org
Economy & Labor
Oct 22, 2019
Janine Jackson interviews Public Bank LA’s Trinity Tran about public banking for the October 11, 2019, episode of “CounterSpin.”
Ellen Brown’s
2019 Book
Today most of our money is created, not by governments, but by banks when they make loans. This book takes the reader step by step through the sausage factory of modern money creation, explores improvements made possible by advances in digital technology, and proposes upgrades that could transform our outmoded nineteenth century system into one that is democratic, sustainable, and serves the needs of the twenty-first century.
“I had the good fortune to work on this initiative before Bernie kidnapped all my time. This is one of those no-brainer initiatives that only the 1% could oppose. It has the potential to save the state millions of dollars by vastly reducing the cost of its bonds to improve infrastructure funding. in a public bank, our state funds can be used to build our local economy and our local infrastructure.”
– Paul Gibson
Retake Our Democracy