District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen introduced a charter amendment to create the structure and governing rules for a San Francisco Public Bank.
Once established, the bank would provide low interest loans to fund things like affordable housing, small businesses, and climate related projects, according to a breakdown of the amendment by the San Francisco Public Bank Coalition, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Supervisor Jackie Fielder that has pushed for the idea since its formation in 2017.
Chen’s legislation would not fund the bank or identify how it would be capitalized but simply creates the entity that could become the bank and establishes how it would operate.
The idea for a public bank in the city gained momentum after the passage of a state law in 2019, Assembly Bill 857, paved the way for cities and counties to lend their credit to people and corporations.
An analysis of creating such an entity was released locally in 2022 by the San Francisco Reinvestment Working Group--a group of financial experts and community leaders-- and it outlined a business model and how it could succeed.
Chen's legislation draws on the group's ideas, which include a governance structure with a banking board made of members chosen by San Francisco's treasurer, controller, city attorney, mayor, and Board of Supervisors. The bank's independent board would then make hires for the bank's operation.
The amendment would restrict the bank from making loans outside of San Francisco and from making loans to entities involved in "fossil fuels, private prisons and detention centers, weapons manufacturers, tobacco products and businesses who engage in labor or human rights violations," according to a statement from San Francisco Public Bank Coalition.
If the legislation succeeds, San Francisco would be the first major city in the country to establish a public bank.
The amendment will next be heard in the Rules Committee at its meeting on either June 22, June 29, or July 6.
The legislation is being backed by four other Supervisors: Jackie Fielder, Myrna Melgar, Bilal Mahmood, and Shamann Walton. If it gets endorsed by one more member of the Board of Supervisors, it will go before San Francisco voters in November’s general election.
