Reply #10: Talking Points for a State Bank – Invest in Washington [View All]

1. There is a great deal of public outrage over bailouts and banker bonuses.
And banks on the national level have not been adequately regulated to prevent future risky lending and investments. Now despite record low interest rates, banks are lending less than ever.

2. The State of Washington is running huge deficits that cause public programs to be cut, negatively impacting Washington’s citizens.

3.. A Bank of Washington State would have the ability to self-fund capital projects, keep money local, subsidize student loans and provide new credit sources.

4. Our plan is to introduce a bill in the Washington State Legislature to charter a Public Bank, the Bank of Washington State. This is a Public, not for profit bank.

5. The Mission is written into the law establishing the bank: Develop agriculture, industry and commerce in Washington State.

6. All tax moneys and fees of Washington will be deposited in the bank. The bank would be a member of the Federal Reserve so that it could have access to the cheapest money available through the Federal Reserve Discount Window.

7. By using the deposits of the bank to make long term loans to small business and helping small farmers, jobs will be created; this in turn will increase the revenue tax base of the state.

8. The Office of the State Treasury uses tax monies now for short term investments in big banks, Federal treasury bonds, Fanny Mae etc. Instead the monies would be invested in long term loans to business here in Washington State.

9. The chartering of a public state bank will not solve all the problems of the recession. However, there is a credit problem in Washington State at the present time and the bank will get credit flowing to where it is needed.

10. The model the bank would follow is the one in North Dakota. The Bank of North Dakota (BND) has helped north Dakota prosper even during these recession times. The bank is conservative and did not participate in risky behavior. North Dakota is the only state in the Union that is not suffering a deficit budget and they have very low unemployment. www.banknd.nd.gov/

11. Like the BND the state bank of Washington would partner with community banks and credit unions in their loan practices. The BND is well thought of by banks in that state and acts as a “mini-Fed” where banks can go for low cost loans.



Project of Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation Just Sustainable Economy Study Group. www.justsustainableeconomy.org/