Legislation filed! "An Act to Establish a Massachusetts Public Bank"

Join us to create economic justice and opportunity across the Commonwealth

Public Banking for Farming, Food and the Climate

Expanding Opportunities for Local Food

Public Banking for Small Business

Fostering Main Street Stability and Local Growth

Public Banking for Social and Economic Justice

Helping communities flourish across the Commonwealth

Public Banking for Municipalities

Investing Our Tax Dollars In Our Communities

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.

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“An Act to Establish a Massachusetts Public Bank” (H.975/S.632) has been filed in the House by Representatives Mike Connolly and Antonio F.D. Cabral, and in the Senate by Sen. Jamie Eldridge. 

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

Join our supporters! To endorse the creation of a public bank for Massachusetts, please fill out this form.

BECMA logo  

Mothers Out Front,
Brookline

Silverbrook Farm
Dartmouth, MA

Campaign News

Our work in the 2023-24 legislative session is off to a great start.

“An Act to Establish a Massachusetts Public Bank” (H.975/S.632) has been filed in the House by Representatives Mike Connolly and Antonio F.D. Cabral, and in the Senate by Sen. Jamie Eldridge.

The substance of the bill is the same: to establish a public bank that will be a steady source of affordable, accessible, equitable and sustainable financing for small businesses, community development institutions, municipalities, land trusts and local agriculture, and will work cooperatively, not competitively, with Massachusetts state-chartered banks.

In the prior session we built a broad coalition in support of our bill, and we are looking to expand that coalition across the Commonwealth. If your organization is interested in finding out more about how a public bank can help build strong and just local economies, please contact us.

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.

woman-owned business

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.

woman-owned business

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

July 18: Legislative briefing on the public bank bill

Members of the public, legislators and staff are invited to a legislative briefing on H.975/S.632, An Act to Establish a Massachusetts Public Bank, on July 18 at 1 p.m. at the State House, Room 428. You can also attend virtually. To RSVP (required for online...

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Green Banks and public banking: both/and, not either/or

We at Mass Public Banking are delighted that Governor Healey announced last week the formation of a "Green Bank” initiative to fund climate-friendly affordable housing. So how does this Green Bank differ from the proposed Massachusetts public bank? The Green Bank,...

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Six-part series explores power of public banking in LA

The Public Bank LA coalition has done amazing organizing work not only in terms of building together a people's movement for a municipal bank but in bringing in experts to scope out need and to propose ways of establishing a sustainable, transparent, accountable...

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Public banks can help us create the communities we want.

Parks, good roads, safe bridges, clean energy and housing we can afford. We want lower interest rates for local small business loans, local control of our tax dollars, investment in our local communities, and ethical and transparent financial institutions managing our public funds. Public banks can be the financial engine that makes this happen for our communities.

— Public Banking Institute

Public banks can help us create the communities we want.

States Pursuing Public Banks

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People Powered

States Actively Exploring Public Banking

Public Banking is taking hold across the country!

Across the nation, more than 25 initiatives for public banks are actively being pursued, by progressives and conservatives, 30 of 50 states have proposed legislation in support of publicly-owned banks, and over 50 organizations are promoting public banks.

Join the Movement!

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