Title
Signifying the intention of the City of Philadelphia to organize the Philadelphia Public Banking Authority pursuant to authority established under state law, under certain terms and conditions.
Body
WHEREAS, a public bank can help to achieve multiple policy objectives that include facilitating municipal infrastructure development for our City government, supporting a local financial ecosystem that assures equitable access to credit from our community banks, and stimulating economic development that spurs job creation and expands the tax base of our local businesses; and
WHEREAS, a public bank can help support the investment of City revenues for local benefit in ways that are consistent with the City's values and policy goals; and
WHEREAS, a public bank can help identify, develop, and implement best practices for local financial institutions and their clients to eliminate de facto redlining, to promote meaningful citizen involvement in private decision making that affects public welfare, to assist cooperative business startups and conversions, and to facilitate achievement of additional public policy goals within the private sector; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia has a history with banking innovation, starting with the establishment of financial institutions here before and during the funding of the American Revolution and the formation of the United States under the visionary leadership of Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, and Alexander Hamilton; and
WHEREAS, successful public banks currently operate throughout the world and in the United States, notably The Bank of North Dakota since 1919 and the Territorial Bank of American Samoa since 2016; and
WHEREAS, a public bank can provide financial tools and resources, including those available to members of the Federal Reserve System, that are in productive use by private banking institutions but are not currently available to the City directly; and
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