PUBLIC BANKING & GUARANTEED INCOME PANEL WITH REP. RASHIDA TLAIB
This powerful panel, hosted by The New School in June 2025, brings together Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and leading public banking and guaranteed income experts to explore how these two bold policies can work together to tackle income inequality, deliver immediate relief, and build long-term structural change.
Watch the full recording to hear from national leaders, scholars, and practitioners on why public banking is essential financial infrastructure for an equitable economy, and how guaranteed income complements this vision.
Watch the recording: https://vimeo.com/1094198348/1982f4784b
View 50+ audience questions answered during the event.
Panelists:
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib, U.S. Congress
- Trinity Tran, Public Bank LA
- Terri Friedline, University of Michigan
- Darrick Hamilton, The New School
- Amy Castro, University of Pennsylvania
- Moderator: Graham Steele, Stanford Law School
THE NUTS & BOLTS OF PUBLIC BANKING
Over 170 community members joined the California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) Town Hall featuring elected officials from cities and regions actively working to form public banks. People across the nation are turning out to learn more about public banking — and Californians are at the forefront of making public banks a reality for the first time in generations.
Keynote speaker Eric Hardmeyer discusses the mechanics of the successful Bank of North Dakota—the nation’s only public bank in operation for more than a century—which he steered for over 20 years. Eric is joined by a powerful lineup of elected officials representing five cities: Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Richmond.
PUBLIC BANK LA VIRTUAL TOWN HALL
The movement for a public bank in Los Angeles is on the march! Over 250 supporters joined “The People’s Bank: Public Bank Los Angeles Virtual Town Hall.” Watch the replay below from the February 23rd event as we supercharge the creation of the Los Angeles Public Bank.
VIEW THE RECORDING OF THE ZOOM TOWN HALL ON THE PUBLIC BANK LA FACEBOOK PAGE.
Featured speakers:
• Mike Bonin, LA Councilmember
• Nithya Raman, LA Councilmember
• Kevin de Leon, LA Councilmember
• Monica Rodriguez, LA Councilmember
• Miguel Santiago, CA State Assemblymember
• Bob Schoonover, President of SEIU 721
• Rachel Torres, Deputy Political and Civil Rights Director, UFCW Local 770
• Beverly Roberts with ACCE Action and Chair of Home Defenders League
• Susie Shannon, Policy Director of Housing is a Human Right
• Jennifer Tanner with SoCal 350 Climate Action, Indivisible CA: StateStrong, Indivisible Green Team and Fossil Free CA
• Trinity Tran, David Jette, Ben Gordon, and Naveen Agrawal of Public Bank LA
Event Overview: Virtual Town Hall
Over the past two years, we’ve made real progress in the fight for divestment from Wall Street and the establishment of public banks. Since the historic Measure B campaign, with over 430,000 Angelenos voting yes to a Los Angeles public bank, our movement and work in California’s largest city has catapulted the public banking movement a generation forward.
In 2019, California Public Banking Alliance, a statewide group Public Bank Los Angeles helped to found, sponsored and spearheaded the landmark Assembly Bill 857, empowering California cities, counties and regions to form their own public bank, banks that would be 100% accountable to local communities, not Wall Street. AB 857 was made law and opened the way for Los Angeles to start a bank without a ballot measure.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we have worked tirelessly to push forward public banking as a necessary part of an equitable recovery. We made strides towards establishing a state-level public bank with AB 310, and will be reintroducing the bill with lead author Assemblymember Miguel Santiago this year. In the few weeks of the bill’s launch, we secured support from over 80 organizations including labor and national groups, along with the commitment of State Treasurer Fiona Ma to work with us in the upcoming legislative session. Up and down the aisle, and through to the Governor’s Office, public banks are seen as a key part of achieving equitable, broad-based, democratically-led progress in our State.
We are now re-focusing our efforts locally here in Los Angeles, including both the City of Los Angeles and the cities and areas within the broader LA area.
As the City of Los Angeles reels from the COVID-19 crisis, a public bank would and should lead the recovery. Public banking allows for low-cost lending at a local level to support the resurgence of our restaurants and small businesses, particularly those owned by historically disadvantaged and underrepresented people of color that have been forced to close may never return. A public bank will lay the foundation for a more equitable local economy by financing projects including local public infrastructure, renewable energy, affordable housing, a local Green New Deal, and more — carried out by well-paying and union jobs.
CONSTRUCTING THE DEMOCRATIC BANK OF LOS ANGELES
Constructing the Democratic Bank of Los Angeles with The Democracy Collaborative featuring Michael Brennan, Trinity Tran, Naveen Agrawal, Thomas Hanna, Rohan Grey.
Click here to download the report.
California in October 2019 passed a historic law to charter 10 local public banks. This webinar explores the challenge of getting the public banks’ mandates, missions, and programs properly aligned with maximum public engagement and accountability. Speakers explore the key details and questions that need to be addressed in order to ensure that these public banks empower communities and help solve the crises they face.
• Michael Brennan, research fellow at The Democracy Collaborative and author of the new report “Constructing the Democratic Public Bank: A Governance Proposal for the Los Angeles Public Bank”
• Trinity Tran, co-founder and organizer with Public Bank Los Angeles and the California Public Banking Alliance
• Naveen Agrawal, Public Bank Los Angeles organizer and author of the 2020 report “Public Bank Los Angeles: Public Finance for Social Good”
• Thomas Marois, senior fellow at University College London’s Institute for innovation and Public Purpose and author of the new book “Public Banks: Decarbonisation, Definancialisation, and Democratisation”
• Rohan Grey, assistant professor at Willamette University College of Law and founder and president of the Modern Money Network
PUBLIC BANK LOS ANGELES TEACH-IN
Public Bank LA, LA Forward, Sunrise Movement LA, & ACT LA to host this teach-in that provided an overview of what a public bank is and how it will allow Los Angeles to save money and set priorities with fiscally, socially and environmentally responsible investments. We have an opportunity to create a real People’s Bank that prioritizes us and our planet.