Tuesday’s vote took San Francisco one step closer towards creating the nation’s first city-owned public bank, and the second public bank in the United States.
The vote passed with nine yes’, with Supervisors Sherrill and Wong dissenting.
Unlike private banks that are owned by shareholders, money that public banks get from interest or fees would be used to fund certain types of projects. As Supervisor Chen put it: "A public bank would open the doors to build an engine for affordable housing, a lifeline for struggling small businesses, and the financial backbone for our climate goals."
Legislation that supervisors approved specified that funds from the bank would not be used for fossil fuel corporations or weapons manufacturing.
In 2025, the San Francisco Public Bank Commission released a poll that found 67% of San Franciscans are in favor of opening a public bank.
Supporters of the public bank, like Supervisor Melgar, say that it would remove barriers to loans and other banking opportunities that underserved communities face.
"We still see great disparities in lending for no financial business reason against women, against people who don't have, proper documentation, against all sorts of human beings that could be, thriving economic actors in our society," Melgar said.
But some like Supervisor Alan Wong, are skeptical.
"The banks that fail tended to fail the same way. They lent on political direction rather than on repayment," Wong argued. "And when those loans went bad, it was the public that ended up bearing the loss. We also should ask whether there are lower risk ways to achieve the same goals."
In November, San Francisco voters will decide whether or not to establish a public bank.
