In the News

Q&A with Sarah Manning: Sarah Manning is a coordinator of outreach and public partnerships for the Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity (AFLEP), a nonprofit organization that educates and advocates for improving economic prosperity in New Mexico. The organization prepared a bill last regular session to establish a public bank and is ready with a new version for introduction during the 30-day legislative session that begins in January.

Payday loans are an example of small-dollar loans. These loans offer financing to predominately low-income communities. Borrowers must prove that they have regular paychecks and give lenders access to their bank accounts for direct withdrawals. Although these are short-term loans, lenders will “roll over” the loans for a fee if the borrower struggles with repayment. These fees typically exceed the cost of the original loan.

A borrower with a $300 loan could, for example, pay $50 every two weeks to roll over the loan and avoid default. After a year, the borrower could ultimately owe $1,300 of interest on a $300 dollar loan.

This is the situation we face in the United States. Currently, private banks create all the money in circulation — except for the bills and coins issued by the Treasury — by making loans. The Federal Reserve is a network of private banks with a special relationship to the Treasury. Interest on our growing federal deficit is paid to banks that hold Treasury notes. When banks become “too big to fail,” it is our tax dollars that bail them out. It’s clear that we have to address control of the money supply in order to solve a host of social, equity and climate issues. Yet, where can we get the leverage to make such a massive transformation?

Just in time for the UN’s policy push for “30 x 30” – 30% of the earth to be “conserved” by 2030 – a new Wall Street asset class puts up for sale the processes underpinning all life.

Los Angeles Sentinel

“With a public bank, you can invest in your neighborhood, promote affordable housing, help small businesses, support a fair transition to a green economy, and increase equity.”

The United States Postal Service has quietly relaunched a banking program that includes check-cashing at a handful of post office locations.

The program, which began on Sep. 13 at post offices in Washington D.C., Baltimore, the Bronx, and Falls Church, Virginia, allows customers to purchase gift cards of up to $500 using their payroll or business check for a small flat fee. That could serve the one in four American households who are unbanked or underbanked, per a 2017 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation survey.

The United States Postal Service has quietly relaunched a banking program that includes check-cashing at a handful of post office locations.

The program, which began on Sep. 13 at post offices in Washington D.C., Baltimore, the Bronx, and Falls Church, Virginia, allows customers to purchase gift cards of up to $500 using their payroll or business check for a small flat fee. That could serve the one in four American households who are unbanked or underbanked, per a 2017 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation survey.