Deep in the Board of Supes agenda for Tuesday/28 is a resolution offered without committee reference that could move forward a plan that alter municipal finance, affordable housing, and ultimately, banking in San Francisco.
Sup. Jackie Fielder is asking the board to approve a resolution calling on the city treasurer to move forward to create a municipal green bank. The supes have already approved the concept, and Fielder has five cosponsors, so unless one member objects and demands that the proposal be sent to committee, this will pass.
That would start the process of figuring out how to pay for what could become the country’s first municipal bank. The idea is overwhelmingly popular among residents, polls show, and would only need about $20 million to get off the ground.
From the resolution:
That the Board acknowledges the need for funding from various federal, state, and local sources, including philanthropic sources, to support the design and establishment of the SFGB, and urges the Mayor, the Board, and other departments, to explore and pursue these funding opportunities.
Not sure how much federal or state money is going to be available; Donald Trump would never go for this kind of program, and now that Gov. Gavin Newsom is running for president, he’s going to be terrified of any connection to anything that could be smeared as “socialist.”
But there’s plenty of money available.
Four supervisors have signed onto a proposed measure that would increase taxes on Uber and Lyft and on CEO pay–measures to address economic inequality that are legal under very limited state laws. SEIU United Healthcare Workers West is sponsoring a statewide measure that would raise $100 million by taxing billionaires. (The SF Standard story, which is fine and fair, has the worst possible headline: “If you’re a California billionaire, hide your wallet,” which plays into the idea that rich people should look for ways to avoid paying taxes. How about: “If you’re a billionaire who has never, ever, paid your fair share of taxes, it’s time to open your wallet for the good of society.”)
If San Francisco were able to tax the incomes of the 5,000 richest people in the city, just at the level that they saved from the Trump tax cuts on billionaires, we would have no budget deficit, no Muni cuts, and plenty to fund a public bank.
It appears that 2026 will be a year when local and statewide voters may have a chance to approve some progressive taxes. Some of that money could fund a public bank that could then fund affordable housing.
That item is at the end of an agenda that starts at 2pm.
