Board advances ordinance to create San Francisco Reinvestment Working Group for public bank planning

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on June 15 to pass, on first reading, an ordinance creating the San Francisco Reinvestment Working Group. The group is tasked with developing business and governance plans for a non-depository municipal finance corporation and for a public bank and submitting those plans to the board and the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).

Supervisor Aaron Peskin and others framed the measure as a next step in a multi-year effort to explore public banking as a locally controlled tool for investment. "Public banks, which are fundamentally financial institutions that are accountable to people, and not existing for private profit, can play a really key role in addressing our most crucial issues," Supervisor Dean Preston told colleagues during a long presentation introducing the ordinance. Preston credited state-level legislative changes and local advocacy groups for creating a path to pursue a public banking option.

The ordinance specifies roles for the working group and tasks it with delivering both a business plan and a governance plan to the Board of Supervisors and to LAFCO. Supporters said a local public bank could channel investment toward affordable housing, small businesses, and green infrastructure; opponents in prior hearings have urged caution about legal and financial risks.

The board approved the ordinance on first reading by unanimous roll call. The ordinance requires further steps — the working group must be staffed and funded and must complete its deliverables for subsequent board review.

Ending: The vote advances a planning process that local proponents say could let the city use public finance tools for community reinvestment; the working group will return recommendations to the board after developing detailed governance and business proposals.