San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder will introduce a ballot measure on Tuesday that would tax financial institutions to create a municipal public bank, the first of its kind in the country.
The public bank would let the city issue low-cost loans for affordable housing, small businesses, and green infrastructure.
The measure is the most concrete step a city official has taken to create a public bank here since 2023, when the Board of Supervisors unanimously greenlit a plan to stand one up. Fielder said a public bank would help entities that have struggled to get funding from traditional banks get loans from the city instead…