"All
About Money," with host, John Sakowicz, returns to KZYX on Friday,
April 4, at 9 a.m., Pacific Time, with a special edition show with the
Public Banking Institute's new executive director, Gwendolyn Hallsmith.
She will discuss Vermont's initiative to make a public banking a reality
in Vermont.
Senate Bill 204 would grant the Vermont Economic Development Authority
(VEDA) a banking license and would further direct 10 percent of the
Treasurer’s bank deposits to VEDA for investment in Vermont.
We hope to be also joined by Vermont State Senator Anthony Pollina who introduced S. 204.
BACKGROUND
Earlier this month, AP reported in "Over a Dozen Towns Support Public
Bank Idea" that "The majority of communities asked to support the
creation of a public bank in Vermont have approved the measure at town
meetings.
"Supporters argue that instead of keeping its money in large global
banking institutions, the state could save money, create jobs and
eventually generate revenue by creating a state bank.
"The proposal would turn the Vermont Economic Development Authority, a
nonprofit agency that makes loans, into a bank. A bill pending in the
Legislature would put 10 percent of the state's funds into it."
John Nichols in The Nation reports in "Vermont Votes for Public Banking"
that "the votes were overwhelming. Vermont is not the only state where
public banking proposals are in play. But the town meeting endorsements
are likely to provide a boost for a legislative proposal to provide the
VEDA with the powers of a bank."
Robb Mandelbaum, in the New York Times writes that "public banking
advocates point most hopefully to efforts in Vermont" to emulate the
model of the Bank of North Dakota, which "funnel[s] deposits from state
agencies back into the state’s economy through a variety of loan and
other development programs."
GWENDOLYN HALLSMITH
Co-founder of Vermonters for a New Economy, and the new executive
director of the Public Banking Institute, Hallsmith said today: "It is
clear that the bank lobby has a lot more traction in the State House
than the cities, towns, and the citizens. It has been our contention
that the state-chartered banks stand to gain by the legislation, and
that their interests and the interests of the large out-of-state banks
diverge on this issue."
According to Vermonters for a New Economy, the bill is encountering
fierce opposition, not from ordinary Vermonters, but mostly from
lobbyists for big private banks. The group says that when Senate Finance
Committee hearings began on March 18, the Finance Committee only
invited representatives of big banks to testify concerning the proposal.
This led a local paper, the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, to call the
bill "politically unpopular" even though a large majority of towns
supported it in the town meeting campaign.
A study by Vermonters for a New Economy, the Gund Institute at the
University of Vermont, and the Political and Economic Research Institute
at the University of Massachusetts states that a public bank would
create "over 2,500 jobs" and add hundreds of millions in additional
gross state product in the state.
According to the Public Banking Institute, public banks are
countercyclical, meaning they are "capable of reducing the negative
impact of recessions, because they can make money available for local
governments and businesses precisely when private banks decrease
lending."
ANTHONY POLLINA.
State Senator in Vermont, Pollina introduced S. 204, the bill that would
grant the Vermont Economic Development Authority a banking license and
direct 10 percent of the Treasurer’s bank deposits to VEDA for
investment in Vermont.
KZYX
KZYX is an NPR affiliate station. Our broadcasts are heard at 88.1, 907.
and 91.5 FM in the Counties of Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, and Sonoma in
northern California. We also stream live from the web at www.kzyx.org
Shows may be archived.
Listener call-in number during the show is: (707) 895-2448
|
|
|
|
|
Vermont marble and public banking, now that is sparking the idea of how enlightenment grows into fruition.
ReplyDelete