Below is an update from my Peace Movement pals Cindy Cole and John Rep, who are working with State Representative Bob Hasegawa and others to create an efficient and consumer-friendly official Bank of Washington State.
Remember: This bill is important because it will help us keep our government dollars (tax and bond revenue) in the state, working for us, rather than having it be used to gouge borrowers or sending it out of state to pay obscene bonuses to Wall Street execs.
An official State Bank would not compete with local outfits like BECU and Washington Federal Savings, but would actually help them, by acting as a funding source for loans originated by the smaller, local banks and credit unions.
The bill is also important, politically speaking, because it's something that liberals, conservatives, populists, and even libertarians (!) can unite around. Whether they will actually do that, remains to be seen.
—DP
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January 30, 2011, a short summary of the hearings on the State Bank Bill (Washington Investment Trust)
The Washington Investment Trust Bill (WIT) was introduced in the Legislature on January 18th.
On January 25th hearings in both the House and Senate were held on the HB 1320 and SB 5238 to establish a Task Force to develop an implementation plan for the Washington Investment Trust.
For a PDF file summary of the bill, please go to:
http://tinyurl.com/wa-state-bank-bill-1
At the Senate Financial Institutions, Housing and Insurance Hearing, there was very little time. The hearing room was packed with supporters of the bill. Rep Hasegawa, the prime sponsor of the bill, gave opening remarks. Two retired officers of the Bank of North Dakota (the nation’s only state bank) were present to answer questions and several citizens were able to speak in favor, but many more were not able to. This was disappointing, as a number of small business owners had made the trip to Olympia to give testimony on the problem of the banks refusing to lend. Speaking against the bill were the Washington Bankers Association, the Community Bankers Association, and the Office of the Treasurer. The Community Bankers Association, however, seemed willing to work with the committee on the bill. Two Republican members of the Senate Committee did not attend the hearing.
In the afternoon, Steve Kirby, chair of the House Business and Financial Services Committee, gave two full hours to HB 1320. The entire committee of 13 members was in attendance. Rep. Hasegawa again made opening remarks; the bankers from North Dakota spoke about how the Bank of North Dakota maintains liquidity as that is one of the concerns of the Treasurer, Jim McIntire. The Main Street Alliance of Washington, a small business organization, had three small business owners speak in favor of the bill. A person working in eastern Washington with minority business people and micro loans spoke about how a bank would work well for helping business. John Repp from the Just and Sustainable Economy group was also able to speak in favor as did Brian Derdowski a former Republican King County Council member. The chair gave as much time to the opposition as they wanted and again the two bankers associations spoke in opposition as did the Office of the Treasurer.
At this time we are watching to see when the bills will be voted on by the committees. It is felt that the bill may pass out of the House committee. It will be heavy lifting, however. Three Representatives could use some gentle constituent support for the bill. They are Troy Kelly of the 28th LD, Brian Blake of the 19th LD and Christopher Hurst of the 31st LD. Citizens in these districts should email or call their offices.
–Cindy Cole
West Seattle
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