Tucson is one of the southwest’s most impoverished cities. How could a state or local public bank help our economy?
Tucson is one of the most impoverished cities in the country—for many reasons. The Arizona Legislature—driven by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and short-sighted, “small government” ideology—has routinely swept funds earmarked for counties and cities to “balance” the state’s budget or fund pet projects like lower corporate taxes.
Beyond the Legislature’s negative impact on Baja Arizona, the Tucson economy is not diversified enough. Manufacturing is nearly non-existent in Southern Arizona. There is an over-reliance on defense spending, University of Arizona spin-offs, tourism, low-wage service jobs, and growth/development. During the Great Recession, multiple income streams for our local economy were dramatically reduced or eliminated—resulting in the loss of hundreds, if not thousands of good-paying jobs due to budget cuts, business closures, and the housing market crash. People and jobs left the area.
In August, the Arizona Daily Star ran a week-long series on multiple aspects of poverty in Southern Arizona
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Arizonans for a New Economy 
A Public Bank could use the state’s bonding power and access to low interest rate money for economic incentive to bring industry and employment to the state. Development loans would not hamper existing corporate taxpayers, force them to give financial incentives or reduce tax bases. Time to realize incentives that cost money and take away public funds is a fools battle. The local or state government that gives away the most, ever building larger offers to obtain new industry just cheats its’ current residents. Offering low interest rate development loans with long term {10-20 year) pay backs through a state bank doesn’t diminish local tax bases or place existing taxpayers under the gun to furnish competitors public funded incentives.
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Right you are, Harvey! Thanks for the comment and all of your hard work on public banking. There is a PBI meeting coming up in Santa Fe in September. We’re planning to go.
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I saw something about it. I am still in August and will look at it again. But I doubt I can go, Janet wants to go up to Portland to visit her brother, he has been having some medical issues. I am just not in the traveling mood to tell you the truth. H
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