New Jersey Citizen Action released the following statement today following the first meeting of the State Public Bank Implementation Board.

Trenton, NJ – “Today marks a significant step forward and the beginning of a deliberative process that will seek input from stakeholders, advocates, elected officials, members of the public and experts with the broad knowledge relevant to the many and complicated aspects of creating a state bank,” said Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, Board Member, Executive Director of New Jersey Citizen Action and a Public Member of the State Bank Implementation Board. “This input will help decide how such an institution would best serve New Jersey’s unmet needs, especially in the areas of affordable housing, infrastructure investment, student loans and lending for small businesses.

“Our purpose is not to determine if there should be a state bank, but what that state bank will look like and how to best build it from the bottom up. That means determining capitalization and laying out a specific structure for a sound, robust institution that will work closely with banks, community development financial institutions and non-profits. This process must be fact-based, data-driven and defined in language that can be understood by everyone”.

“We need  to  ensure that  the  need  for  the  bank be fact-based  and  data  driven. Our job will be to make sure that New Jersey’s state bank will be home grown- Made in New Jersey! The institution we come together to create must complement and improve the existing financial sector.”

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New Jersey Citizen Action is a statewide grassroots organization that fights for social, racial, and economic justice for all. NJCA combines issue advocacy, organizing, and education with the provision of free financial empowerment services, reaching over 13,000 people across the state each year. For more information, visit our website at www.njcitizenaction.org.