Oregon Action! nailed another victory to move municipal money out from under major banks. After many months working to engage local municipalities on responsible banking practices, OA! moved the Ashland City Council to unanimously pass a resolution authorizing the city to move some of its money out of Wells Fargo and to establish accounts at local credit unions. The amount they have moved is at the fullest extent insurable by law.
More importantly the ordinance sets in motion the process for the city to establish responsible banking criteria for banking services contracts.
Oregon Action and the Oregon Banks Local Coalition has been working for over 3 years to encourage state and local municipalities to begin the process of moving their money– what advocates call divestment– out of the big banks and into more locally controlled institutions. Divestment from major banks to local banks increases economic dividends for municipalities and the state.
Since Oregon’s banking landscape is dominated by the large banks, encouraging local banking by our cities is of three goals for this movement:
- Keep more Oregon money in Oregon,
- Bolster the local banking sector, and
- Increase small business lending.
Ashland now joins other victories and current initiatives in Corvalis, Portland, Gresham, and Clatsop County.