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Policy & Advocacy
Instead of only investing in corporate incentives to “attract and retain” outside wealthy corporations, DC should invest in shared economic and financial infrastructure that entire sectors can use.
Policy Platform
The city should invest in shared infrastructure that helps communities start, preserve, finance, and govern locally rooted businesses and assets.
Instead of only investing in corporate incentives to “attract and retain” outside wealthy corporations, the city should invest in shared infrastructure that entire sectors can benefit from: shared insurance pools and bonding capacity, collaborative grants for multiple groups to share back-office costs, and more ways for groups to save on shared purchases.
Two of the highest impact tools the city could create would be a public bank (putting the city’s cash into a city-owned bank and creating a new tool to finance permanently affordable housing and business development) and a land bank (putting city-owned vacant land and tax liens into an entity that would streamline putting community assets to community uses).
DC needs support for groups helping residents start, stabilize, and grow cooperatives and shared economic infrastructure. When owners retire or sell, workers and communities should have tax incentives, technical assistance, and financing tools to keep good local businesses rooted.
Policy education
Start with the coalition briefing, then explore the District’s own research.
Start here · Coalition briefing
A plain-language case for a DC land bank, a public bank, and the dedicated staff needed to move both ideas forward.
Official DC study · DISB, 2020
The District’s study of public banking models, legal feasibility, capitalization and operating constraints, unmet financial needs, and possible next steps.
Read the official studyOfficial DC proposal · DGS, 2020
A presentation outlining a possible authority’s mission, powers, governance, property pipeline, implementation, financing, and comparative models.
View the original presentation
Development We Own Together
