William Weightman

Stanford Law Review Online | Stanford Law Review

SLR Online Special Symposium Essays are now available on our website! We have 8 Essays about executive actions, constitutional boundaries, and the rule of law in Trump II. www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/

An important next step! Deposit accounts are a critical service necessary for full participation in the economy. Public options for money will expand access, improve competition, and build opportunity. CalAccounts is leading the way to address persistent service deficiencies in the banking industry.

Today we took another step towards implementing a fee-free public option for basic financial transactions for all Californians!

@sylviachi.bsky.social Your work is such an inspiration! Thanks so much for sharing 😊

In focusing on local government action, my note seeks to explore how cities can experiment, innovate, and democratize finance where federal or state action may be lacking. 10/10

My note provides a roadmap for the legal issues to address when local governments seek to establish a public bank, focusing on:
🏛 Legal structure
💵 Capitalization strategies
🧑‍⚖️ Governance models
⚖️ Potential challenges (state preemption, costs, and risks) 9/10

But deposits matter too. As depositories, MPBs can provide a democratic node in our system of money and payments, providing a public option for the unbanked/underbanked, simplifying local government cash management, and reinvesting tax dollars in local communities. 8/10

First, loans. As credit allocators, MPBs can make investments that modulate credit in local and state economies for the public benefit under public oversight. They can help finance new projects in affordable housing, green public infrastructure, and community development. 7/10

Today, MPBs can serve as useful policy tools for local governments and local communities seeking to tackle some of our most pressing challenges. MPB balance sheets provide a public option for loans as well as deposits. 6/10

Current MPB models draw inspiration from important historical precedents:
✅ Bank of North Dakota, a state public bank established in 1919.
✅ Tribal public banks, like the Blackfeet National Bank launched in 1987.
✅ Territorial Bank of American Samoa, a territorial public bank set up in 2016. 5/10

While municipal public banks (MPBs) are a new institutional form of finance, they can trace their roots to the long tradition of public involvement in the banking franchise and the important logic of decentralization and diffusion of banking powers in American law and political economy. 4/10

In fact, California already passed a law (AB 857) that makes it possible for local governments to charter their own banks. In 2019, @capublicbanking.bsky.social played a crucial role in passing this first-of-its-kind legislation. 3/10

📈 Interest in public banking is on the rise. Across the country, advocates are organizing to provide financial services to their local communities. Cities like NYC, Philly, and SF have focused on municipal institutions while states like MA, NM, and OR have considered state-level options. 2/10

🚨 Very excited to share that my note, Municipalities and the Banking Franchise, is officially out in the @stanlrev.bsky.social! The piece explores the role local governments can play in building a more democratic financial system. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 1/10

SLR’s summer submission cycle will open on Friday, July 18, at 5:00 PM PT. We will be accepting general submissions as well as submissions for our Symposium Issue—The APA at Eighty: What’s Next for Administrative Law? We look forward to reviewing submissions on a rolling basis!

🚨 Beginning Tomorrow 🚨
Follow our Instagram as Stanford Law Review takes over for their symposium on “Promises of Sovereignty: A Quarter Century of Federal Indian Law in the Supreme Court.” Join leading scholars & practitioners for insights on this critical topic. www.instagram.com/stanfordlaws...

Excited to share a draft of my forthcoming Stanford Law Review note on municipal public banking! Comments and feedback welcome. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Excited to start some winter break reading