Public bank would be stable, provide affordable housing, and help with climate goals

A new independent report indicates that a San Francisco Public Bank would not only be financially sustainable long term, but would also create thousands of new affordable housing units, guarantee more than $60 million in small business loans, and allow the city to meet its climate goals. The report also indicates that the public bank would be millions of dollars cheaper than private institutions. San Francisco’s voters have a chance to take the initial steps towards a public bank if Prop B passes on election day. If so, it would create a Municipal Finance Corporation, which could be capitalized as the nation’s first city-owned public bank. “Prop B creates a democratic governance structure, identifies priority areas of lending such as affordable housing, local enterprise, and climate sustainability, and establishes prohibitions on lending to ensure it doesn’t finance sectors such as fossil fuels, detention centers, or weapons manufacturing,” Supervisor Chyanne Chen, who author