San Francisco Voters Approve Prop B, Setting Up a City-Owned Public Bank

San Francisco voters have approved Proposition B, a charter amendment that lets the city set up a municipal finance corporation and, later, a public bank. In the Department of Elections’ preliminary results update of Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 4 p.m., Prop B led with 164,430 yes votes (52.31 percent) to 149,904 no votes (47.69 percent). The measure needed a simple majority.

The margin is 14,526 votes, and the department estimates about 6,200 ballots are left to count (about 2,400 vote-by-mail and 3,800 provisional), according to its official results page. That is fewer ballots than the gap, so the remaining count cannot change the outcome. The San Francisco Standard reported the result on November 8, noting that Prop B trailed on election night and pulled ahead when late ballots were counted on Thursday, November 5.

What Prop B does

The ballot question asked whether the city should amend its charter to authorize a municipal finance corporation and a public bank. The Standard reports that the corporation can make loans but cannot take deposits, and that it can apply to become a full public bank after three to five years of turning a profit. If regulators approve that step, it would be the first city-run public bank in the United States. North Dakota runs the only government-owned bank in the country today, and it is a state bank.

Prop B does not open a bank or move city deposits on its own. As we reported when the Board of Supervisors voted 9 to 2 in July to put the measure on the ballot, backers estimated about $325 million in startup capital would be needed before lending could begin, and they wanted the vote held in 2026 because the state law that lets California cities form public banks is set to expire in 2028.

Supporters listed on the results page include the San Francisco Foundation, the SF Labor Council, the Climate Emergency Coalition, the Affordable Housing Alliance and the SF Tenants Union. Supervisor Jackie Fielder of District 9, who introduced the measure, founded the SF Public Bank Coalition as an activist, the Standard reports. Supporters say a public bank could make low-cost loans for public projects, affordable housing and small businesses; opponents say it could lose money and leave taxpayers covering the losses.

Prop I fails on the same ballot

The companion progressive measure did not pass. Proposition I, which would have dedicated half of the transfer tax collected on property sales above $10 million to affordable housing, trailed 163,542 no (52.06 percent) to 150,595 yes (47.94 percent) in the same update. That money continues to go to the city’s general fund.

What happens next

The department posts a results update each afternoon at 4 p.m. while counting continues, and it has up to 30 days after Election Day to certify the final results. After certification, the city can begin the work of forming the finance corporation; the Standard reports any move to a full bank would also need approval from state regulators.

For the other local results, see our reports on voters rejecting Prop G and keeping Sunset Dunes car-free and on Prop H and Measure RTM passing.

Photo: Runner1928, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.