Frequently Asked Questions

  • Simply a bank owned by the government. Public banks are non-profit banks able to provide cheaper credit than privately owned banks because they don’t have to pay maximum returns to private investors. Similar to a credit union in function, but owned by and accountable to the people of San Francisco.

  • The public bank of San Francisco will provide cheap loans for the things San Franciscans need. The proposed public bank will focus on lending to affordable housing, green energy, infrastructure, and small business. The public bank will allow our local money to go further, allowing SF to recycle the interest paid on loans to the public bank into more local projects while also reducing the cost of borrowing for our city.

  • Public banks are a tried and tested economic development method, with 1/4th of the world's assets currently held in Public Banks, but they are relatively rare in America because of the power of private banks here. 

    The best example of a Public Bank in the USA is the Bank of North Dakota, a public bank founded 100 years ago by populists and beloved by the notably less radical constituents of present day North Dakota because of the protection it provides. The Bank of North Dakota is a flexible tool that uses the money North Dakotans don’t have to pay Wall Street because they have their own bank to respond rapidly and effectively to the residents' needs. 

    BND created the nation's first federally insured student loan program, is notoriously effective in amplifying and rapidly distributing disaster relief during floods and fires, and helped North Dakota businesses get the most PPP loans per capita during the COVID-19 crisis.

  • Only if you own a financial institution doing business in or based in San Francisco!

    These corporations received a massive tax break from the Trump tax cuts. This tax would take back a small portion of the billions in breaks they’ve just received. 

    The corporations will argue they’ll pass the tax onto you when you use their services, but they argued that when this tax being raised was initially proposed and it didn’t happen. Plus they’ve just received a huge tax break and so don’t have the need to raise prices.

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