San Francisco Puts a Public Bank Measure on the November Ballot

San Francisco voters will decide this November whether to take a first step toward a city-run public bank. The Board of Supervisors voted 9 to 2 in July to place a measure on the November 3, 2026 ballot, with Supervisors Stephen Sherrill and Alan Wong opposed.

The measure would not open a bank on its own. It would create the governance structure for a municipal finance corporation, an entity that could later become a public bank. Supporters say a public bank would let the city make low-cost loans to affordable housing developers, small businesses, and green infrastructure projects that have trouble borrowing from commercial banks. The measure needs more than 50 percent of the vote to pass.

What it would cost

Backers estimate the bank would need about $325 million in startup capital before it could begin lending, and say it would be self-sustaining after that. That price, along with the long path from a governance structure to an operating bank, is part of why the two dissenting supervisors and other skeptics have questioned the plan.

If voters approve the measure and the city follows through, San Francisco would become the first city in the United States with its own bank. The Bank of North Dakota, founded in 1919, is currently the only government-owned bank in the country, and it is run by a state rather than a city.

Why it is on the ballot now

Supervisor Jackie Fielder introduced the measure earlier this year. Supporters say they want it before voters in 2026 because the California law that lets cities form public banks is set to expire in 2028. The idea is tied to the city’s wider debate over housing costs; the same board recently cut San Francisco’s inclusionary affordable housing requirement in an effort to restart stalled construction.

The city posts official measure text and ballot arguments at sf.gov. The board’s vote was reported by Mission Local, KQED and Axios San Francisco.

Photo: Sanfranman59, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.