would help Restore our Economy in Washington State How a Public Bank would help Restore our Economy in Washington State Presentation by the Washington State Public Bank Coalition Washingtonpublicbankcoalition.org

Why are we in this mess?

Mega Bank Gamblers Crashed Our Economy In 1929, Mega Banks crashed the economy by gambling away the savings of the public on Stock Market Speculation. This caused credit to dry up, small businesses to fold, local banks to fail and caused the Great Depression.

How Mega Bank Gamblers Crashed Our Economy In 1933, FDR and Progressive Democrats passed a law, called the Glass Steagall Act to limit the size of banks and prevent banks from gambling with their depositors money. For more than 60 years, this law protected the American people from reckless gambling by Mega Bank Monopolies

Sadly corrupt politicians from BOTH political parties repealed this law in 1999 Since the repeal of the Glass Steagall Banking Act, the 6 biggest MEGA BANKS control over 60% of our nation’s gross national product.

Banks started Gambling on Derivatives: Cause of our Crisis “In plain terms, derivatives are THE cause of the Financial Crisis. They are behind EVERY failure/ default that has occurred thus far. ” --Graham Summers, Investment Advisor

The Bail Out of the Mega Bank Monopolies has cost tax payers at least SIXTEEN TRILLION DOLLARS… http://www.unelected.org/audit-of-the-federal-reserve-reveals-16-trillion-in-secret-bailouts

Even worse, these same banks stopped lending to local small business. Instead, they used their massive windfall profits to pay out billions in bank bonuses and have outsourced our jobs overseas.

Big Problems with Too Big to Fail Mega Banks Most of our tax revenue is held in 9 out of state international mega banks. These banks gamble with our tax revenue financing offshore projects to ship our jobs overseas.

North Dakota Public Bank Facts North Dakota is the only state in the U.S. that is not suffering a budget deficit, $1 billion surplus 2015. North Dakota has the lowest unemployment in the US (less than 4%). The Bank of North Dakota has returned in excess of $500 million dollars to the State of North Dakota’s general fund since 2000, lowering taxes while increasing funding for schools. Since 2000, North Dakota’s GDP has grown 56%, personal income has risen 43% and wages by 34%. North Dakota has had no bank failures during the current crisis (Washington State has had 19). Washingtonpublicbankcoalition.org, publicbankinginstitute.org

Public Banks offer several benefits over Mega Bank Monopolies Public Banks do not hand out billions in Wall Street bonuses Instead, the profits are returned to the State to reduce State taxes and increase funding for essential public services like schools, colleges and Universities

Public Banks offer several benefits over Mega Bank Monopolies A Public Bank would generate millions of dollars in new State revenue. A Washington State Public Bank would generate dividends for the state’s General Fund of $200 to $500 Million per year.

Public Banks offer several benefits over Mega Bank Monopolies A State Bank would reduce the concentration of wealth and power which is currently controlled by Mega Bank Monopolies Public Banks returns money back to the public to serve public purposes - avoiding the greedy hands of Wall Street

Public Banks offer several benefits over Mega Bank Monopolies A Public State Bank would cut the cost of building public works projects, including schools, roads and mass transit in HALF… saving tax payers billions of dollars. Lynnwood High School, one of the newest high schools in our State (shown above) cost $83 Million. But nearly half of this cost was just for interest. If we had our own State Public Bank, the cost of building and repairing schools could be cut in half.

Questions and Answers About Public Banks Wouldn’t there be a risk of corrupt politicians taking over the State Public Bank and diverting its resources for political gain? Not if adequate firewalls were put in place to prevent politicians from robbing the fund. In North Dakota, their State Public Bank has operated safely for nearly 100 years by having decisions made by a committee of public bankers guided by public principles. Because private banks are not tempted to bribe public officials in order to get State funds, North Dakota has the least corrupt banking and political systems in the nation!

It is time to put our money to work putting people back to work here in Washington State… A public bank could create more than 100,000 new jobs in our State. Let’s end the Private Mega Bank Monopoly by creating our own public bank here in Washington State!

A Public State Bank offers several benefits over Mega Bank Monopolies… A State Bank would reduce the concentration of wealth and power which is currently controlled by Mega Bank Monopolies Instead, a Public Bank returns money back to the public to serve public purposes

Public Banking for the Public Good “The proper function of money is to facilitate the sustainable and equitable utilization of resources to fulfill the needs of people, communities and nature. This calls for a community based and democratically accountable system of money, banking and finance that functions to create and allocate money as a well regulated public utility.” How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule - New Economy Working Group, 2011

It is time to put our money to work putting people back to work here in Washington State A public bank could create more than 100,000 new jobs in our State. Let’s jump start our economy and generate jobs here in Washington by ending the Private Mega Bank Monopoly

How would a State Bank be funded? Washington State currently invests about $4 billion in liquid deposits in mega bank monopolies such as Bank of America.

How would a State Bank be funded This $4 billion would gradually be transferred to our Public State Bank to provide low interest loans to local small businesses, local school districts and local governments for local projects such as building schools.

Join Our Coalition to Create a Public Bank in our State Join Our Coalition to Create a Public Bank in our State! If we all work together, we can create a public bank which keeps our tax dollars working for all of us. Let’s put Washington back to work! Parents: Encourage your friends and neighbors to join and make your voice heard! Community Leaders: Organize a coalition branch in your community Teachers: Find out how a public bank can help us build schools! Union members: Urge your union to support our coalition! State Legislators: Help us Pass the Public Bank Act!

Learn more about the benefits of a State Public Bank… Visit our website: washingtonpublicbankcoalition.org Watch videos on the causes of our economic collapse & how a public bank creates jobs. Sign our petition to the legislature to pass create a Public Bank in Washington State. Sign up for our free monthly newsletter to keep up on what is happening. Most important, join our Coalition and help us create a Public Bank in Washington State!