What is a
Public Bank?
A public bank is a bank owned by the people through their representative government and operated in the public interest. Public banks can exist at all levels, from local to state to national. Public banks exist around the world. In the US, the Bank of North Dakota was established in 1919 to protect local farms from foreclosure. Today it helps the state’s businesses and farmers thrive.
Campaign News
We’re excited to announce that “An Act to Establish a Massachusetts Public Bank” has been filed in the Massachusetts House as H.1114 and Senate as S.736.
We thank Sen. Jamie Eldridge, Rep. Tony Cabral, and Rep. Mike Connolly for presenting the bills.
As we organize for passage, we can use your support. Read the bill here and take a look at other resources on our website, including the basics of public banking, how a Massachusetts public bank will support economic justice and community-focused growth, and ways you can help make the bank a reality.
We welcome your questions and comments and look forward to joining with you to win a public bank for the Commonwealth.
Learn More
A public bank can help advance economic policies that promote sustainability and economic justice, and the Massachusetts public bank bill makes this a priority.
Want to know more? Here are the basics.
Ready to get involved? You can help build a movement for a Massachusetts public bank. This fact sheet can be used to share information with legislators, municipal officials, business and economic development groups, and possible endorsing organizations.
Our longer FAQ tackles more detailed questions about risk and cost-savings, the relationship between the public bank, private lenders, and quasi-publics, the advantages of establishing a state bank as opposed to a loan fund, and how current legislation differs from previous bills.
Join us!
We welcome your help in establishing a Massachusetts public bank. You can support the campaign by…
- Having your organization endorse the public bank bill
- Hosting a representative from our group speak at a meeting
- Passing a city or town resolution in support of the public bank
- Asking your state Representative and Senator to co-sponsor the public bank bill
- Making a donation to the campaign
Contact us to learn more.
Endorsing Organizations
We are proud to have built a broad coalition in support of our bill, and we are looking to expand it across the Commonwealth. If your organization is interested in endorsing public banking, or just finding out more about how a public bank can help build strong and just local economies, please contact us.
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Mothers Out Front,
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Silverbrook Farm Dartmouth, MA |
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Endorsing Organizations
Join our supporters! To endorse S.665/H.1223 and the creation of a public bank for Massachusetts, please fill out this form.
- Black Economic Council of Massachusetts
- Boston Ujima Project
- 350.org Massachusetts
- Alternatives for Community and Environment
- The Boston Foundation
- Boston Workers Circle
- Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee
- Community Economic Development Center of Southeast Massachusetts
- CommonWealth Kitchens
- Cooperative Fund of the Northeast
- Democracy Collaborative
- Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
- Environmental League of Massachusetts
- Families for Justice as Healing
- King Boston
- LEAF: Local Enterprise Assistance Fund
- Mass Peace Action
- Massachusetts Solidarity Economy Network
- Metropolitan Mayors Coalition
- Mothers Out Front, Brookline
- North American Indian Center of Boston
- Neighbor to Neighbor
- Our Revolution Massachusetts
- Progressive Mass
- Schumacher Center for a New Economics
- Massachusetts Sierra Club
- Silverbrook Farm, Dartmouth MA
Public Banking for Municipalities
The COVID-19 pandemic has left tax revenues down and municipal budgets stretched thin. Municipal leaderships is working 24/7 to establish new best practices to ensure that the community institutions that residents depend on, including schools, first responders, senior centers, libraries, and recreational facilities, are there to meet public needs. Cities and towns are sharing new ideas, programs, and procedures to meet the challenges of these times.
Public Banking for Small Business and Community Development
Nearly 1.5 million people—almost half of Massachusetts workers—are employed by small businesses. But small businesses are not just economically important. The presence of a diversity of service, manufacturing, construction, arts, and agricultural businesses creates a stronger community, with local businesses more likely to support local institutions. A thriving Main Street creates a sense of place and civic pride, and everyone benefits from access to services and jobs.
Public Banking for Community Banks
The mission of the Massachusetts Public Bank is to partner with and strengthen existing Massachusetts financial institutions, not to compete with them. Our bill mandates that the bank “shall seek to complement and support the operation of” Massachusetts banks and other existing institutions, a model based on the 100-year-old Bank of North Dakota’s approach to public banking.
Public Banking for Social and Economic Justice
A central goal of the Massachusetts Public Bank is to address the inequities that have left many communities, small businesses, small farms and other enterprises without access to affordable financing. The Bank can expand affordable financing in traditionally underserved sectors of the state and help stabilize the economy in this era of COVID-19 by expanding the lending capacity of local financial institutions that serve those sectors.
Public Banking for Farms, Food & the Climate
We don’t think of Massachusetts as being a farm state, but agriculture is an important part of the Commonwealth’s economy, its environment, and its culture. Massachusetts has more than 7,000 farms employing almost 30,000 people. Nearly 80% of the farms in the Commonwealth are either family or individually-owned. Massachusetts residents who shop at farmers markets or look for local produce in the supermarket appreciate the freshness and quality of what they buy, as well as the benefits to climate of eating local and in season.
Latest News
New study on public banks and the racial wealth gap
Researchers at Demos and New Economy Project recently published "Public Banks for Racial Equity: Democratizing Finance to Build Community Wealth," a study that looks at the history and persistence of the racial wealth gap and the role that public banks can play in...
Information you need about the advantages of public banking
Do you want to know more about how the ownership, structure, purpose, and transparency of a public bank differs from credit unions, Wall Street and community banks, community development financial institution, and non-depository organizations like finance authorities,...
Public Banking in a Time of Crisis: How to Rebuild Los Angeles
The Bank of North Dakota has a proven record of responsiveness to natural disaster, providing more than $200 million in assistance to state residents in seven crises since 1997. As Los Angeles public bank advocate Trinity Tran writes, a public bank can provide the...
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