A Brief History of Public Banking in Massachusetts
Building a movement for a Massachusetts Public Bank
Our Origins: In October 2012, the Public Banking Institute held a conference in Philadelphia to bring together activists, economists, and elected officials to learn about, and learn how to promote, the advantages of public banking for public finance, local economies, and community-building.
After a day of talks, workshops and conversation, participants were invited to eat together by region. It turned out that the conference had attracted several people not just from New England, but from Massachusetts. We decided to keep meeting after the conference, and the campaign for a Massachusetts public bank was born.
Getting Started: Early organizing brought together people with diverse interests in changing financing, money, and banks. The discussion included activists from Occupy Boston’s Occupy Money group, proponents of alternative currencies, academics, and people working on foreclosure prevention. After several months, those of us who were focused on public banking created the Hub Public Banking working group. We set our sights on a bank for the City of Boston or the Boston metropolitan area, and began to approach groups and elected officials to better determine community needs and what kinds of financing a bank should offer.
Early challenges were many. Few people knew anything about public banks and while the Bank of North Dakota had served that state’s economy since 1919, there was no example of a US municipal public bank to show what such an institution could do for cities. We also wanted to ensure a new bank would have democratic governance and community oversight. Finally, we had to refute the conclusions of a 2011 report done by the Boston Federal Reserve on behalf of a state commission set up to assess potential benefits of a public bank to Massachusetts. We joined some of the commission members, and with Demos, in emphasizing that the Commonwealth needed additional small business and infrastructure lending. You can read our refutation of the study’s conclusions here.
Introducing a Public Banking Bill. In 2015, longtime community activist and state Representative Mel King proposed that our group focus on a statewide public bank. In consultation with Charles Grigsby, the former director of Mass Growth Capital Corporation and currently a Public Banking Institute advisory board member, we decided to write a bill that would provide public bank financing for the many infrastructure needs of towns and cities in the Commonwealth. After proving a need for more flexible and lower-cost infrastructure funding, we filed legislation for a Massachusetts infrastructure bank in the 2017-2018 session, sponsored by Rep. Byron Rushing. This bill was revised and refiled for 2019-2020. You can read it here.
Expanding our Mission. In response to the challenges of COVID-19 and the economic disruption it has caused, we began talking with community development experts and working with legislators and our advisory committee on an expanded bill for 2021. This bill has been filed as S.665/H.1223, “An Act to Establish a Massachusetts Public Bank.”
We are confident that a public bank can help to meet the needs of municipalities, small businesses, and land trusts, and that S.665/H.1223 will enable the creation of a reponsive, transparent, and thriving public financial institution, ready to serve Massachusetts for generations to come. We welcome partnering with community banks, CDCs and CDFIs on innovative financing to build the “common wealth.”
Building Together. Now we want to hear from you about what access to affordable loans can do for to improve infrastructure, build small business, and protect agriculture in your community. And we will be sharing more information with you how you can help advance the campaign. We look forward to working with you!
Building a movement for a Massachusetts Public Bank
Our Origins: In October 2012, the Public Banking Institute held a conference in Philadelphia to bring together activists, economists, and elected officials to learn about, and learn how to promote, the advantages of public banking for public finance, local economies, and community-building.
After a day of talks, workshops and conversation, participants were invited to eat together by region. It turned out that the conference had attracted several people not just from New England, but from Massachusetts. We decided to keep meeting after the conference, and the campaign for a Massachusetts public bank was born.
Getting Started: Early organizing brought together people with diverse interests in changing financing, money, and banks. The discussion included activists from Occupy Boston’s Occupy Money group, proponents of alternative currencies, academics, and people working on foreclosure prevention. After several months, those of us who were focused on public banking created the Hub Public Banking working group. We set our sights on a bank for the City of Boston or the Boston metropolitan area, and began to approach groups and elected officials to better determine community needs and what kinds of financing a bank should offer.
Early challenges were many. Few people knew anything about public banks and while the Bank of North Dakota had served that state’s economy since 1919, there was no example of a US municipal public bank to show what such an institution could do for cities. We also wanted to ensure a new bank would have democratic governance and community oversight. Finally, we had to refute the conclusions of a 2011 report done by the Boston Federal Reserve on behalf of a state commission set up to assess potential benefits of a public bank to Massachusetts. We joined some of the commission members, and with Demos, in emphasizing that the Commonwealth needed additional small business and infrastructure lending. You can read our refutation of the study’s conclusions here.
Introducing a Public Banking Bill. In 2015, longtime community activist and state Representative Mel King proposed that our group focus on a statewide public bank. In consultation with Charles Grigsby, the former director of Mass Growth Capital Corporation and currently a Public Banking Institute advisory board member, we decided to write a bill that would provide public bank financing for the many infrastructure needs of towns and cities in the Commonwealth. After proving a need for more flexible and lower-cost infrastructure funding, we filed legislation for a Massachusetts infrastructure bank in the 2017-2018 session, sponsored by Rep. Byron Rushing. This bill was revised and refiled for 2019-2020. You can read it here.
Expanding our Mission. In response to the challenges of COVID-19 and the economic disruption it has caused, we began talking with community development experts and working with state legislators on an expanded bill for 2021. This bill has been filed as S.665/H.1223, “An Act to Establish a Massachusetts Public Bank.”
We are confident that a public bank can help to meet the needs of municipalities, small businesses, and land trusts, and that S.665/H.1223 will enable the creation of a strong, transparent, and thriving public financial institution, ready to serve Massachusetts for generations to come. We welcome partnering with community banks, CDCs and CDFIs on innovative financing to build the “common wealth.”
Building Together. We want to hear from you about what access to affordable loans can do for to improve infrastructure, build small business, and protect agriculture in your community. And we will be sharing with you how you can help advance the campaign. We look forward to working with you!