What a Public Bank Could Mean for California

from YES! Magazine:




What a Public Bank Could Mean for California
The state's facing big debt, but also big opportunity.

by Ellen Brown
posted May 16, 2011


California is the eighth largest economy in the world, and it has a debt burden to match. The state has outstanding general obligation bonds and revenue bonds of $158 billion, largely incurred for building infrastructure. Over $7 billion of California’s annual budget goes to pay interest on the state’s debt.

As large as California’s liabilities are, they are exceeded by its assets, which are sufficient to capitalize a bank rivaling any in the world. That’s the idea behind Assembly Bill 750, introduced by Assemblyman Ben Hueso of San Diego, which would establish a blue ribbon task force to consider the viability of creating the California Investment Trust, a state-owned bank receiving deposits of state funds. Instead of relying on Wall Street banks for credit—or allowing a Wall Street bank to enjoy the benefits of lending its capital—California may decide to create its own, publicly owned bank.

On May 2, AB 750 moved out of the Banking and Finance Committee with only one nay vote, and is now on its way to the Appropriations Committee. Three unions—the California Nurses Association, the California Firefighters, and the California Labor Council—submitted their support for the bill. The state bank idea also got a nod from former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in his speech at the California Democratic Convention in Sacramento the previous day.

Why a State Bank?

California joins eleven other states that have introduced bills to form state-owned banks or to study their feasibility. Eight of these bills were introduced just since January, including in Oregon, Washington State, Massachusetts, Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico, Maine and California. Illinois, Virginia, Hawaii and Louisiana introduced similar bills in 2010. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/what-a-public-bank-could-mean-for-california

Government - BAD!

Private Parts - GOOD!

K&R anyway.

to the Public Banking Institute
http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/

to the state page (which includes action links for individual state initiatives)
http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/state-info.htm

to the California Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Californians-for-a-State-Bank/172424882785184

to sign a petition (from Change.org) in Califoria
http://www.change.org/petitions/california-dreaming-create-a-state-bank-and-eliminate-the-debt

Listen to her, she knows.