State-Owned Banks as a Way to Rebuild the Housing and Real Estate Markets
Bruce B. Cahan • The Center for Internet & Society (CIS) • August 29, 2010
The financial literacy of America has improved markedly, nearly to college level, as a result of the global recession that started in 2007. What about state-owned banks, is the time ripe to explore that part of economic history?
Our nation’s financial life experience includes state-owned banks. At stateownedbanks.com, I am exploring and sharing the history of banks owned by government for their citizens in the United States and around the world. State-owned banks aren’t socialism. They are precedent from our own Colonial Era, and were familiar to our own Constitutional Congress. The Bank of North America refinanced the Revolutionary War debt amassed in fighting the British for independence. Today, the Bank of North Dakota is a state-owned bank, serving the state government’s needs for banking services. Ellen Brown, author of Web of Debt has championed this history and precedent for years.
“Take Action” Update: Ellen Brown’s Latest Presentation on a State Bank for California
Take Action • September 2, 2010
One tool for approaching friends, voters and congresspeople and giving presentations, is Ellen Brown’s presentation on a state bank for California. It can be adapted to suit, but the cartoons and charts are drawn from the Internet and could be copyrighted, so use for educational purposes only please.
Gubernatorial hopeful Farid A. Khavari named his running mate today, announcing that author and financial analyst Darcy G. Richardson of Jacksonville qualified for the ballot for Lieutenant Governor on Wednesday.
The centerpiece of the Khavari/Richardson platform is formation of a state bank to serve the financial needs of Florida’s people and the requirements of the state’s economy.
“The banking industry’s dirtiest secret,” says Richardson, “is that it’s half ‘socialist,’ and in the worst sense of that word. While privately held at the profit end, it externalizes all the attendant risks to the public. If the people of Florida are going to bear the risks of finance, we contend that they should also reap its benefits.”
Reviving California’s economy: Meg Whitman versus Jerry Brown
Ann Kramer • blueoregon.com • August 27, 2010
Recent headlines indicate that the State of Oregon faces another $1 billion in deficits. The trickle-down effect of the financial crisis that started with Wall Street banks has now come to all our Main Streets across Oregon.
Another billion in budget cuts in addition to the $2.3 billion last January results in a huge retraction of our lives. We keep acting as if there is no other option than this when in reality there’s a far better option available to us and that’s to create a State Bank of Oregon. Based on the 90 year, successful model of the Bank of North Dakota (BND), a State bank offers a way for us to recharge Oregon’s economy. The Bank of North Dakota model works: they have the lowest unemployment rate in the country (3.6%) and the only state in the country with NO DEFICIT. Right now 11 states are exploring the creation of a State bank as a way to untangle s from Wall Street and build thriving States backed by the full faith and credit of its citizens. Oregon should be the first to lead the way!
Reviving California’s economy: Meg Whitman versus Jerry Brown
Harold Meyerson • August 17, 2010
For all their differences, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown agree on one thing: California needs an industrial policy.
During Jerry Brown’s first term as governor, a number of California economists argued for establishing a state bank, but the idea never took off. California needs one now a lot more than it did in 1975. Brown’s current ideas are, on balance, better than Whitman’s when it comes to rebuilding the state’s economy, but they too will fall short without a plausible source of funding. The question will be whether Californians can summon the will, as they did throughout much of their history, to create the policies and commit the funds to reconstruct their state.
State Owned Banks: Fixing the Economy by Ellen Hodgson Brown
Local Future • July 30, 2010
Ellen Hodgson Brown explains the rationale behind state owned banks. Due to the collapsing credit bubble which in turned popped the housing bubble, leading to recession, and perhaps, economic depression, there is not enough money and credit to keep the economy running. Three possible solutions are that the federal government issue debt-free money directly, that communities create alternate or community complementary currencies, or that a state create its own state owned bank, similar to the Bank of North Dakota. For example, a state owned bank in Michigan could provide credit to the state itself for infrastructure projects, help provide the capital for local banks, so they could in turn provide low interest loans to home owners, small and medium sized businesses, and students. In addition, a state owned bank could be used to help fund state expenses during tough times by providing loans. A major advantage of a state owned bank is that the state could borrow money from the bank at zero interest, for projects, saving between 30% and 50% of the cost of the project, since there would be no interest burden when repaying the loan. For Michigan, California, Florida, and other states looking to solve their economic problems, the state owned bank model, and the Bank of North Dakota in particular, should be studied in depth, as such a bank could provide the credit needed within that state economy during depressions and other tough economic times. Thanks to Local Future for producing this video.
Passionate Michigan Governor Candidate Bernero OWNS Fox News Anchor
Independent News Blog – http://www.ActivistPost.com • August 6, 2010
Former Lansing Mayor and current Democratic candidate for Governor of Michigan Virg Bernero in a flashback video where he owns Fox News anchor who tries to pepper him with petty questions. Virg Bernero’s proposal to establish a state-operated bank that can make direct loans to businesses in emerging, job-creating industries will make him part of a large growing movement of regaining direct control of local economies through state-owned banks. His site says, “It has worked in North Dakota, and we can make it work here.”
A Progressive Alternative in Illinois
By ADAM TURL • August 4, 2010
One the Republican side, we have Bill Brady, an unabashedly pro-corporate, anti-gay, anti-women, anti-labor, pro-Tea Party, real estate developer.
On the Democrat side, we have Pat Quinn, the former lieutenant governor who took his place as Illinois’ chief executive when former Rod Blagojevich was impeached. Since coming to office, his biggest achievement has been slashing social services and education to the bone, and fiddling while the state entered a full-blown budget catastrophe.
LUCKILY, THERE is an alternative to Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Illinois’ 2010 election: Rich Whitney and the Green Party.
Instead of regressive taxes on working people or draconian cuts in education and social services, Whitney and the state Green Party call for taxing corporations and the rich. Instead of scapegoating LGBT people and undocumented immigrants, they favor equal rights and legalization. Instead of attacking public-sector unions, Whitney opposes cuts and favors increasing union rights in the private sector as well.
Proponent of State-Owned Bank Wins Democratic Nod in Michigan Governor’s Race
UncoverPolitics.com • August 4, 2010
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, one of at least a dozen candidates pushing the idea of a publicly-owned bank in the 2010 mid-term elections, has captured the Democratic nomination for governor of Michigan.
The cash-strapped Bernero, who was largely unknown until only a few weeks ago, trailed State House Speaker Andy Dillon by double digits throughout most of the primary before peaking in the campaign’s final days.
SPECIAL REPORT: The campaign’s most original and whacky ideas
The Center for Michigan • July 15, 2010
Top six creative campaign ideas…
1. State bank. Bernero, a Democrat running for governor, and Senate Democrats want Michigan to charter a state-owned bank to provide loans to small businesses and farmers, as well as low-interest credit cards for consumers. This is modeled on the Bank of North Dakota, a state-owned bank that has generated about $300 million for its state treasury this decade. The idea is that it’s a win-win for citizens and the state alike. Many consumers and small business owners continue to be victims of the credit crunch and could get access to funds. The state could make money off the interest. While economists don’t think this is a magic bullet for Michigan’s budget woes, it could be part of a solution.
Update of Massachusetts State Senate Bill No. 2345
Summary • 23 June 2010
Senate, Tuesday, March 24, 2010 The committee on Senate committee on Ways and Means to whom was referred the bill promoting economic development throughout the Commonwealth (Senate, No. 2331), report recommending that the same ought to pass, with an amendment, recommending a new draft entitled An Act relative to economic development reorganization (Senate, No. 2345).
From Senate, No. 2345: SECTION 131. (a) There shall be a commission to study the feasibility of establishing a bank owned by the commonwealth or by a public authority constituted by the commonwealth.
The text of the Senate Bill No. 2345 can be found here, and a .pdf version can be found here.
Summary of Senate Bill No. 2345 below.
Economic Development Reorganization
The goal of S2345 is to create a business-friendly environment that will stimulate job growth and improve the ease with which MA businesses can operate in the markets they serve. The bill:
Implements strategically-focused economic development policies that will promote job retention and job creation throughout the entire Commonwealth and within the targeted sectors in which Massachusetts can be competitive.
Enables all segments of the workforce to grow in a coordinated and concentrated manner.
Eliminates redundancy and waste in the economic development activities funded by the government and holds the entities conducting those activities responsible for delivering results.
Facilitates assistance for new and existing businesses,
Strives to ensure that state government is not an obstacle to job creation.
Emily Who? Independent Candidate Steals the Show at Gubernatorial Forum (VIDEO)
7d.blogs.com posted by Andy Bromage • 23 June 2010
Emily Peyton of Putney, one of five independent or minor party candidates on the ballot for November, made her debut appearance in northern Vermont during a two-hour debate at the Turning Point Center on Bank Street, a facility for substance abuse programs and group meetings.
Her platform covers a lot of ground: Addressing prison overpopulation, “recycling wealth for Vermont,” getting Vermont off the grid, growing a hemp industry in the state, and creating a Vermont common good bank owned and controlled by depositors.
Emily Peyton’s campaign website vermontforward.com addresses the issue of a state-owned Bank of Vermont here.
Emily Peyton discusses the Bank of North Dakota and our monetary system are her blog http://peyton4governor.blogspot.com/.
A Model for a State-Owned Bank
abovetopsecret.com posted by Mary Rose • 30 July 2010
Florida will be having an election for Governor in November of this year. One of the candidates, Farid Khavari, has as part of his platform a state-owned Bank of Florida. He states that the money this bank would earn would go into the State Treasury, and proposes the following formula:
2%, 15-years mortgage
2% energy loans
2% student loans
3% car loans
3% business loans
6% credit cards
6% CDs
I am of the opinion that creating banks owned by the government (the people) is the only hope we have for turning the global meltdown around.
The Rationale for State-Owned Banks
Lorenzo A. Canizares, Reader Supported News • 10 July 2010
Michigan has an unemployment rate of 14 percent, and has been particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. Verg Bernero, Mayor of Lansing, the state’s capital, and a leading Democratic candidate for governor, proposes to relieve the state’s economic ills by opening a state-owned bank. He says the bank could protect consumers by making low-interest loans to those most in need, including students and small businesses; it could also help community banks by buying mortgages off their books and working with them to fund development projects.
Khavari for Governor – Bank of the State of Florida
Khavari4Governor • September 12, 2009
There is a growing national movement to establish state owned banks. This ad for Florida gubernatorial candidate Farid A. Khavari outlines the benefits.
6% CD’s, 2% fixed-rate mortgages, 6% credit cards from a state-owned bank. State earns billions per year, citizens save hundreds of billions per year in interest, money circulates in your state! Yes, it is possible, and quite simple. Even bankers agree it would work, and they are worried! Khavari is an economist, not a politician. He is not owned by banks and insurance companies. This would work in ANY STATE! Hey, someone send this to Arnold Schwarzeneger and save California!!
Green Party of New York State Platform
May 20, 2006
Democratic and Ecological Investment of Public Pension Funds Managed by a State Bank
Current capital markets and ownership structures are not adequately financing small and medium businesses, affordable low and moderate-income housing, and economic development in inner cities and rural communities. With over $100 billion in public pension funds and other state assets, New York State can play a decisive role in meeting these needs by making prudent investments to fill capital gaps in these under-financed areas of the economy. Management of these funds is far too important to be left to the discretion of a single person, the state Comptroller. The Greens call for the creation of a state bank, with the Comptroller as one of the elected board members, and with a competently staffed trust department to act as a fiduciary agent and manager of the public portfolio and other state cash assets, as well as to receive deposits of ordinary citizens. The state-owned Bank of North Dakota has done this since 1919, consistently making a profit for the state. It serves as a yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of public banks inserving the financial needs of the economy. Investment of the states’s public pensions and other state funds should be targeted to support:
Revitalization of wealth-creating primary production in agriculture and manufacturing;
Worker, consumer, and community owned enterprises that anchor capital and wealth in our communities and state under democratic control;
Conversion to ecological technologies that promote sustainable economies.
State-owned banks are mentioned in this recent Opinion piece in the Washington Post.
Making the economy more just
Katrina vanden Heuvel • July 21, 2010
Congress has passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, but the task of transforming our economy into one of shared and sustainable prosperity has only just begun. Structural reform will come not through the sweep of a single piece of legislation but with new, innovative economic models that better reflect the democratic values of this country.
HCR200 (House Concurrent Resolution 200) Requests that the Hawaii State Legislature Study the Feasibility of Establishing a State-Owned Bank
Submitted March 8, 2010 • by M. OSHIRO
HCR200 was submitted to the Hawaii House of Representatives on March 8, 2010, and has now passed in the House and transmitted to the Senate. Key points in the Resolution:
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau, with the assistance of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, is requested to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing a state-owned bank in Hawaii, similar to the Bank of North Dakota; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2011; and
Information on the resolution can be found here. Read the full text of the HCR200 here.
14 Candidates Off and Runing for Governor
New Service of Florida • July 2010
Farid Khavari, who is also an author, bills himself as the only potential governor with a plan for economic recovery because the three mainstream candidates are too busy politicking.
As such, Khavari, continuing to garner media attention, was featured in 5 of the 12 paragraphs of this article, also with his photo the only cne prominently shown.
“We had a great meeting with our Budget Chairman Allen Icet in Jefferson City. He has proposed that he will mirror Virginia legislation to study the placement of a state bank here in Missouri, and this summer he will be holding committee hearings. Speaker Pro-Tem Bryan Pratt has offered his support and has asked to be on the committee.”
“We met with award winning documentary maker Bill Still (Money Masters, The Secret of Oz), who was announced on the House Floor by Speaker Pro-Tem Bryan Pratt and Allen Icet and let us view his documentary The Secret of Oz.”
State-Owned Banks: Putting Money Back in the Hands of the People
LORENZO A. CANIZARES FOR BUZZFLASH
www.buzzflash.com • 07/06/2010
Michigan has an unemployment rate of 14 percent, and has been particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. Verg Bernero, Mayor of Lansing, the state’s capital, and a leading democratic candidate for governor, proposes to relieve the state’s economic ills by opening a state-owned bank. He says the bank could protect consumers by making low-interest loans to those most in need, including students and small-businesses; it could also help community banks by buying mortgages off their books and working with them to fund development projects.
Some good news if you’re a Floridian and Farid Khavari becomes the next governor.
www.themarketfinancial.com • June 25, 2010
If more or the majority of states end up following suit creating state run banks, it will spell the end of the Federal Reserve, IMF, EU and the economic disaster they have created.
Miami Fla – Noted economist Farid Khavari, a Democratic [now Independent] candidate for Florida governor, has gained national acclaim since announcing last July his plan to create a state-owned bank in Florida. Following Khavari’s move, gubernatorial candidates in Oregon and Illinois have made state-owned banks part of their policies and other states are looking closely at the idea of state-owned banks. The Virginia legislature has a pending resolution to establish a committee to consider a proposed state bank.
While other states seem to focus on interest savings for state and local governments, they are vague about benefits for ordinary citizens. In contrast, Khavari’s approach is to dedicate the bank to the service of all Floridians, while the state will win both in interest cost reductions and in profit from the proposed bank.
“The Bank of the State of Florida will operate using the same rules that apply to all banks. The difference is, our bank will be created to directly benefit all Floridians, not only the state. We have a very specific plan. The bank will pay 6% for CDs. Under fractional reserve rules, for every $100 deposited, we can create $900 in new money by making loans. In our case, we will concentrate first on 2% fixed rate, 15-year mortgages, both new and refinances,” Khavari said.
Economic Sovereignty for Florida’s Future
www.letthemfail.us • June 23, 2010
We fully endorse Farid Khavari, author of 9 books and one of 5 gubernatorial candidates in the United States to sponsor the Sovereign State Solution to our current economic crisis of fiscal irresponsibility, casino finance and derivative speculation.
I first read about the concept of a State chartered bank when Ellen Brown brought the idea to light in an essay regarding North Dakota’s historic, precedent setting charter of a State-owned bank in 1919, soon after the establishment of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
Other economists have entertained the notion of reinstating our Constitutional legacy – a system of credit – to restore the fiscal sovereignty of our nation, long ago usurped by the international cartel of central banks established by the traitorous Federal Reserve Act. But only North Dakota had the wisdom to erect a firewall between railroad barons, their Wall Street financiers, and the State of North Dakota.
We’re a group of economists, lawyers, engineers, former civil servants, university academics and business people who have realised that the root of the instability in the world economy, and huge burden of debt in every country, is due to the fundamental design of the banking system.
The proposed Bank of England Act: This is a reform that could prevent a future financial crisis, clear the national debt, and restart the economy.
It cures the sickness in our economy and financial system by tackling the root cause of the problem, rather than just the symptoms.
It would make the ‘inevitable’ cuts in public services completely unnecessary, reduce the tax burden by up to 30% and allow us to clear the national debt. It takes control of the UK’s money supply out of the hands of the commercial banking sector and restores it to the state, where it can be used to benefit the economy, rather than providing a £200 billion annual subsidy to the banking sector.
Candidates head to the starting line
Bill Cotterell • June 15, 2010
Candidate qualifying for Florida’s state races began with a recent political science graduate and an economist who wants to start a state bank taking the first spots in the starting gate Monday.
Khavari, 67, said he wanted to run as a Democrat but the party was only interested in big-name candidates. He proposed creating a state-owned bank to make 2 percent fixed-rate mortgages and low-interest credit cards to stimulate the economy, which he said would produce 1 million new jobs.
Campaign Qualifying Underway
Rick Flagg • June 15, 2010
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — This could be the year of the independent in Florida politics.
Monday was the first day to sign up with the state elections office for the fall campaign and one of the first in line was Miami economist Farid Khavari. He’s a democrat, but Khavari said the party already has a favorite candidate, so he’s running as an independent.
In announcing his candidacy last June, Iranian-born economist Farid A. Khavari, a Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, became the first candidate for public office to seriously promote the idea of a state-owned bank since the Great Depression when Minnesota’s radical Farmer-Labor Party — a party that held the governorship for eight consecutive years during the 1930′s— included such a plank in its platform.
Our mission is to deliver quality and sound financial services that promote commerce and industry in the state of Michigan. It is to utilize our own tax dollars to work with our community banks and regional banks, enabling the assets of Michigan to work for Michigan.
Read Gene Taliercio’s entire plan for a state bank here. Gene Taliercio’s website geneformichigan.com is here.
As Governor, I will propose the creation of an institution that will allow us to keep state revenue deposits in state and put it to work for Maine – to provide badly needed capital to Maine businesses, to create greater opportunity for our economic growth, and to help local banks finance larger projects and better manage lending risk: it’s called the Maine State Bank.
Read the entire statement here.Rosa Scarcelli’s website rosaformaine.com is here.
A comprehensive & innovative proposal for a new system of sustainable economics
Project by Paul Grignon
“The Essence of Money” is a short animation illustrating the principle that underlies the idea of self-issued credit. This is much the same idea that underlies most alternative money systems and which is, in truth, the basis upon which conventional banking actually works despite its pretense to be “lending” money.
The Mysterious CAFRs: How Stagnant Pools of Government Money Could Help Save the Economy
By Ellen Brown
May 20, 2010
For over a decade, accountant Walter Burien has been trying to rouse the public over what he contends is a massive conspiracy and cover-up, involving trillions of dollars squirreled away in funds maintained at every level of government. His numbers may be disputed, but these funds definitely exist, as evidenced by the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs) required of every government agency. If they don’t represent a concerted government conspiracy, what are they for? And how can they be harnessed more efficiently to help allay the financial crises of state and local governments?
Socialism in North Dakota
by John Case
May 20, 2010
The Bank of North Dakota is the only state-owned bank in America. Despite that, or because of it, the bank earned a record profit last year even as its private-sector corollaries lost billions.
Some who have difficulty even absorbing news of a profitable socialist enterprise point to North Dakota’s well-insulated economy, which is heavy on agricultural staples and light on housing speculation, as the source of its success.
But this has not stopped out-of-state politicos from making pilgrimages to Bismarck for counsel and advice. Could opening state-owned banks across America get us out of the financial crisis? The Bank of North Dakota, with its $4 billion under management, has avoided the credit freeze and crisis by creating its own credit, and in doing so, is leading the nation in establishing state economic sovereignty as well. Could decentralizing large sectors of finance provide better insurance – a better hedge, if one may use that term – for the people, against the “too big to fail” phenomenon?
More States May Create Public Banks
By Ellen Brown
May 13, 2010
By 2011, only one state will have escaped the credit crunch that is pushing other states toward insolvency: North Dakota. North Dakota is also the only state that owns its own bank. The state has its own credit machine, making it independent of the Wall Street banking crisis that has infected the rest of the country.
Now, several states are either studying the prospects of a state-owned bank or are considering legislation to make one possible.
State-owned bank drawing interest
North Dakota’s socialist experiment has new appeal
Dale Wetzel
Associated Press
February 17, 2010
BISMARCK, N.D. – It has no automatic tellers or drive-up windows, doesn’t issue credit cards, and tends only a few thousand checking and savings accounts. Its only location is a glass, steamboat-shaped headquarters near the Missouri River, where the business moved from its original 1919 home in a former auto assembly plant.
The Bank of North Dakota – the nation’s only state-owned bank – might seem to be a relic. It was the brainchild of a failed flax farmer and one-time Socialist Party organizer during World War I.
But now officials in other states are wondering if it is helping North Dakota sail through the national recession.
Expert testimony: Should Vermont form a state-owned bank?
By Opinion January 25, 2010
Editor’s note: The following is Cairn Cross’ written testimony submitted to the Legislature on Jan. 22. Cross is a former banker and a founder of the venture capital firm FreshTracks Capital.
The Bank of North Dakota is owned and operated by the State of North Dakota under the supervision of the Industrial Commission as provided by Chapter 6-09 of the North Dakota Century Code. The Bank of North Dakota combines elements of banking, fiduciary, investment management services, and other financial services, and state government and plays a primary role in financing economic development.
U.S. States Consider Starting Their Own Banks
By Matthew Cardinale
ATLANTA, Georgia, Apr 30, 2010 (IPS) At least eight U.S. states are considering proposals to start state-run banks in the wake of an economic crisis where many private banks ceased or greatly decreased their lending, literally shrinking the money pool available in state economies.
Economist Ellen Brown, author of “Web of Debt”, has been writing commentaries on various websites and runs a Google Group that has been pushing the idea of state-run banks for a couple of years, efforts which she says have made a lot of state legislators aware that a state-run bank was even a possibility.
North Dakota is the only one out of the 50 U.S. states that is still operating with a fiscal surplus, and some economists argue it is in part due to the state-owned Bank of North Dakota – the only bank of its kind in the U.S. – which has been able to pump money into its own economy by making loans to farmers, small businesses and families.
Numerous states are beginning to consider the idea of starting their own bank, since the issuance of credit is one of the main ways that money enters the economy.
The George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations have pumped trillions of dollars into private banks through the federal bank bail-outs, with the hope that they will begin lending again. Yet any entity can start a bank, including a corporation, university, nonprofit, or even a governmental entity like a state, city, or county.
Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington each have proposals on the table in their respective state legislatures considering the formation of a state-run bank in one way or another.
In addition, current candidates for political office in eight states – California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington State – are pushing a state-run bank as part of their platform.
State-owned bank in North Dakota an inspiration
BY JAKE GROVUM
McClatchy-Tribune
WASHINGTON — As Congress returned to writing a bill overhauling regulation of the banking industry, some states are pondering homegrown solutions to the credit crisis. And for inspiration, they’re looking to a place that is far away from Wall Street in more ways than one: North Dakota.
North Dakota operates the country’s only state-run bank. The Bank of North Dakota makes loans to businesses and to other banks, and has come to be seen both in and out of the state as a beacon of economic stability and financial independence. Then there’s the revenue: The bank has turned over $350 million in profits to North Dakota’s general fund since 1997.
Bills intended to create similar state-run banks or study the idea are being discussed in Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington. Five more states have contacted the Bismarck-based bank in hopes of learning more about how the bank’s 168 employees straddle the line between public benefit and private enterprise.
Public Banking — From Radical to Conservative
by Tom Sgouros
Democratic candidate for Rhode Island General Treasurer
Posted: April 13, 2010 01:49 AM
“…My current favorite example of successful and competitive public service comes from those radicals in North Dakota. North Dakota is a pretty conservative state these days. They voted for McCain, and have a Republican Governor and two of the most conservative Democratic Senators in Congress. But a century ago, North Dakota was near the center of the Populist movement that nearly elected William Jennings Bryan president in 1896. Agrarian populists promoted all kinds of economic and fiscal reforms meant to pull power away from the financial and industrial elite of that “Gilded Age” and give it to farmers and workers. Part of their platform was to reform the banking industry to serve producers instead of bankers, and in 1919 they managed to squeak a measure through the North Dakota legislature to establish a public bank.
“…The Bank of North Dakota is the nation’s only state-owned bank.
“…But the part that I like best about the North Dakota bank is that it was founded by radicals but now run (and defended) by conservatives. This puts it in the company of many other common-sense public policy institutions, like disability insurance, unemployment compensation and Medicare.
Senate passes bill to stimulate growth
Milford Daily News
Posted Apr 12, 2010 @ 05:20 PM
Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, announced Thursday the senate passed legislation to promote a more business-friendly environment to help stimulate job growth in the state.
…Other bill provisions include prohibiting the use of state funds to pay for registered lobbyists; stopping agency executive salaries from exceeding the amount of the Governor’s salary; providing a three-year permit extension for development projects struggling with tight credit conditions and calling for a study of business energy costs, as well as a study to determine the feasibility of a state-owned bank.
The Growing Movement for Publicly Owned Banks
by Ellen Brown
Mar 17, 2010
We the people have given away our sovereign money-creating power to private, for-profit lending institutions, which have used it to siphon wealth from the productive economy. Some states are moving to take that power back.
Senate Democrats Propose Developing a Bank to Create Jobs, Grow Small Business and Protect Michigan Consumers
Michigan State Democrats
Press Release
2010-03-9
LANSING – Michigan Senate Democrats unveiled an innovative proposal today that would create the Michigan Development Bank. The proposed bank will keep residents’ money in Michigan and put it to work to stimulate the economy and create jobs through increased business lending and protect consumers with reasonable interest rates on loans. Read more.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bernero wants to open state bank
Kathy Barks Hoffman / Associated Press
March 09. 2010
Lansing — Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero today proposed having Michigan follow the lead of North Dakota and open a state-owned bank that could make low-interest loans to businesses and college students. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate said the state bank also could ease the foreclosure crisis by buying down mortgage portfolios held by smaller banks in Michigan and partner with other private banks on economic development projects. Read more.
VIDEO: State senate candidate proposes state central bank
By CHARLES CRUMM
Of The Oakland Press
March 3, 2010
One Republican candidate for the state Senate wants to solve Michigan’s economic problems by setting up a central state bank to smooth out the economic ups and downs. Gene Taliercio, one of six Republicans and two Democrats seeking the 12th District state Senate seat, wants to establish the “Bank of Michigan.” Read more.
On February 4, 2010, bill HB5476, which authorizes the creation of a state bank, the Community Bank of Illinois, was introduced to the Illinois General Assembly.
House Sponsors: Rep. Mary E. Flowers
Short Description: COMMUNITY BANK OF IL ACT
Creates the Community Bank of Illinois Act. Provides that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall operate the Community Bank of Illinois.
Another candidate, Gaelen Brown for Vermont State Senate, raises the issue of a State Bank. Running as an Independent, Brown wants to “explore creating a State-owned bank that would work with private VT-based banks, to insulate VT from credit issues and increase investment capital for VT businesses, modeled after the very successful State-owned Bank of North Dakota.”
A public hearing has been scheduled next Tuesday, March 2, 2010, for HB 3162. There has been so much interest in this idea that Chair Kirby of the FI & I committee has scheduled a special work session on the bill.
Details for Public Hearing:
Financial Institutions & Insurance Committee – Tuesday, 03/02/10 8:00 am
House Hearing Room D
John L. O’Brien Building
Olympia, WA
Read about the bill here, the text of the original bill here, the “bill digest” here, and the “bill analysis” here.
Campaigning for State-Owned Banks The public bank concept is gaining ground on the state level, attracting proponents across the political spectrum.
by Ellen Brown
February 19, 2010
While bank bailouts fatten Wall Street, states continue to battle the credit crisis. In the search for innovative solutions, some political candidates are proposing that states generate their own credit by setting up their own banks.
