STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2720--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 26, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PEOPLES-STOKES, LEVENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Banks -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT establishing a commission to determine what benefits a public bank or network of public banks owned by the state of New York or by a public authority constituted by the state of New York can provide; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. A temporary state commission, to be known as the New York 2 state commission on establishing a bank owned by New York state, herein- 3 after referred to as the commission, is hereby established to hire a 4 consultant to study the feasibility of establishing a bank owned by the 5 state of New York or by a public authority constituted by the state of 6 New York for the public interest. 7 § 2. (a) The commission shall consist of fourteen members, to be 8 appointed as follows:(i) six members shall be appointed by the governor, 9 one of whom shall be a representative of the New York state department 10 of financial services, one shall be a representative from the New York 11 state department of taxation and finance, the remaining four governor's 12 appointees shall not be employees of the executive branch and at least 13 one member shall represent the banking and financial industries of the 14 state including, but not limited to, the New York bankers association, 15 at least one member shall represent community banking, and no more 16 than one member may be a representative of any financial services firm 17 located within the state, including, but not limited to, the New York 18 state small business development center; 19 (ii) three members shall be appointed by the temporary president of 20 the senate, one of whom shall be a member of the senate; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02072-03-3
A. 2720--A 2 1 (iii) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the 2 senate; 3 (iv) three members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, 4 one of whom shall be a member of the assembly; and 5 (v) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem- 6 bly. 7 (b) The majority of the members of the entire commission shall desig- 8 nate one of the commissioners to serve as the chair of the commission. 9 (c) The members of the commission shall be appointed no later than 10 ninety days after the effective date of this act. 11 (d) The commission is directed to hire a reputable consultant that has 12 the capacity, capability, and experience to conduct a feasibility study 13 to evaluate and make recommendations concerning the formation and 14 control of a state public bank. Consultants that have conducted a previ- 15 ous feasibility study of a public bank at the request of a government 16 entity in the United States will be given preference. Such study shall 17 make recommendations, with the advice of the department of financial 18 services, including but not limited to, on the feasibility of establish- 19 ing a state bank in New York and may recommend legislation for the 20 legislature to consider in order to create a state public bank for New 21 York. 22 § 3. The scope of such study shall include, but shall not be limited 23 to: 24 (a) the purposes of such public bank in the public interest; 25 (b) an analysis of cost savings, impacts on the state's finances, 26 economic development and infrastructure, housing and additional needs of 27 the state, including but not limited to: 28 (i) appropriate governance structures; 29 (ii) minimum capitalization requirements; 30 (iii) appropriate insurance and risk management tools; 31 (iv) charter requirements; 32 (v) financial and operations framework; 33 (vi) deposits; 34 (vii) permitted activities; 35 (viii) benefits; 36 (ix) potential challenges that such public banks may encounter; 37 (x) how the lack of accessible financial services contributes to the 38 cycle of poverty; 39 (xi) barriers to small business formation and growth; 40 (xii) impacts of such public banks on small businesses, including 41 minority- and women-owned business enterprises; 42 (xiii) impacts of such public banks on the unbanked, the underbanked 43 and banking deserts; and 44 (xiv) how a state public bank may provide banking to the cannabis 45 industry; 46 (c) a fiscal analysis of costs associated with formation; 47 (d) an analysis that considers the effects of an economic recession on 48 the financial results of such public banks; 49 (e) a legal analysis of whether the proposed structure and operation 50 of such public bank complies with the New York state constitution; 51 (f) an analysis of how the proposed governance structure of such 52 public bank would protect such public bank from unlawful insider trans- 53 actions and apparent conflicts of interest; 54 (g) a fiscal analysis of the benefits associated with the creation of 55 such public bank, including, but not limited to, cost savings, jobs
A. 2720--A 3 1 created, jobs retained, economic activity generated and private capital 2 leveraged; 3 (h) a qualitative assessment of social and environmental benefits of 4 such public bank; 5 (i) a review of feasibility studies on public banking, including the 6 city of Philadelphia public bank feasibility study and the city of San 7 Francisco public bank feasibility study; and 8 (j) a review of AB-857 (2019 Cal. Stats. Ch. 442). 9 § 4. No earlier than six months and no later than seven months after 10 the effective date of this act, the commission shall submit a report to 11 the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the 12 assembly, the chair of the senate banks committee and the chair of the 13 assembly banks committee on the findings and conclusions of the study 14 conducted pursuant to sections two and three of this act and shall 15 submit any legislative recommendations deemed to be necessary. Such 16 report shall be contemporaneously published on the official website of 17 the department of financial services. 18 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be 19 deemed repealed one year after such effective date.