"A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation." Eubie

Open letter to the Washington State Congress.


Washington State House Bill 3162 is quite well written. However, there is no mention of where the state will get the capitol to start the bank. North Dakota did it with a Bond Issue. We do not have to go there. We can tap the Investment Pool funds the State Treasurer manages. As I understand it, we have $8 billion in pooled funds at .25% interest, returning $20 million to the State.

To fund HR 3162 we can transfer those funds into the Washington State Bank @ 2% interest. The pooled funds will be safe, liquid and more than competitive.

Actually @ 2% interest: the state would earn $160 million in 2010. In fact if you want to maintain a relationship with the current deposit scheme, you can transfer $4 billion and receive $80 million in returns in addition to $10 million at the current interest of .25%.

We have been using the moniker Washington State Bank. There is a Washington State Bank in Washington, IA, I am sure the name is copyrighted. We need to find a new name such as The State Bank of Washington or another name.

BOSTON — Of all the various elements of Senate President Therese Murray’s new economic development bill, wants to explore the creation of a state-owned bank.
The unusual move – there’s only one state-owned bank in the country – drew a wide range of responses from bankers as they learned about the proposal. Some say the concept is downright crazy, while others say the discussion could lead to some interesting ideas about how to stimulate economic growth.

Murray certainly hasn’t made her mind up yet. The bill that she filed on Feb. 8 would, among other things, establish a commission to study the feasibility of starting a state-owned bank. The commission would draw from leaders in the Legislature as well as quasi-public state agencies and the banking industry.

State leaders are concerned that there is not enough lending going on right now, particularly to businesses. Murray wants to see if a state-owned bank could be one way to increase the availability of credit for companies looking to grow in Massachusetts. WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. federal regulators Friday urged banks to increase lending to small businesses but to make sure such operations were creditworthy.

Representative Hasegawa’s bill is reaching millions of readers. Most executives running small businesses like myself, need some loan access.

As you ponder this bill please remember the bill’s simplicity and the formation of The State Bank of Washington is very simple. Do not complicate the bill and it will work.