Messages from Rep. Hasegawa on the Washington Investment Trust
Dear neighbors, I am excited about creating an opportunity for a bank that belongs to the people of WA State. After months of hard work we have a bill that will create the Washington Investment Trust (WIT). It is a simple concept that I believe will reap huge benefits for Washington State (I’ve attached a summary of the bill to this email). Wenow have a bill in the House and a companion bill in the Senate. H.B 1320 is posted online and you can see the full bill at this link. The companion bill, S.B. 5238, is being sponsored by Sen. Margarita Prentice. You can track the progress of the bills as they move through the committees at both of these sites. Here is the committee information for when the bills will be heard. Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance (Senate) Tuesday, January 25th, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Senate Hearing Room 2 Business & Financial Services Tuesday, January 25th, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. House Hearing Room B As always please note that things can be re-arranged on the schedule at the last minute. Feel free to call my office with any questions. The concept: keep taxpayers’ money working here in Washington to build our economy. Currently, all tax revenues go into a “Concentration Account” held by the Bank of America. BoA makes money off our money and we never see those profits again. Instead, we can create our own institution and keep taxpayers’ dollars here in Washington, working for Washington. I think this concept will also have the potential to bring huge benefits to our state. Some of which include: Increased access to capital–access to capital is small business’ #1 barrier to success/survival; Support students and schools; Infrastructure and capital projects; Housing development; Support local farms and farmers; Long term economic stabilizer to get us through tough times down the road; and the biggest benefit, not well understood by most, is that banks literally create money. Following standard fractional reserve banking practices that all banks follow, the WIT can literally create money for Washington, up to 10X reserves, that we can use to stimulate development and our economy to build the envy of the U.S. because we have such a strong foundation to build upon. From education to transportation, tourism to agriculture, energy to technology, we can build the finest economy and infrastructure in the country. The bill creates a Blue Ribbon Founding Task Force of finance experts to develop an operational plan for the WIT. But, the WIT will not become operational until after the 2012 legislature passes trailer bills that will be recommended by the Task Force. How much good WIT can do depends on how much we’re willing to capitalize the bank. As it builds capital capacity over the years, it will become an invaluable resource for the state in weathering economic downturns. The Center for State Innovation has completed an analysis that looks at the impact a state bank could have specifically here in WA state. It is full of information and is a good way to get some more background information on the potential a bank can have for WA State. I’ve attached a copy of the report to this email as well. The more support we can build from folks like you…the better. We have to show that there is support for this concept from the people of WA State. This is a non-partisan issue and we want to get support from everyone who thinks this has the potential to do good things for our state. If you have networks, friends or family who think this is a good idea please spread the word. If they can call or email their representatives that is great too. If you can come out to Olympia to testify in support for the bill that would be even better! The more support we have for the bill the better. If the bill is going to have a chance to get to the floor for a vote by the full House (and Senate) we have to be able to get it out of the committee first. Bob Bob Hasegawa Washington State Representative 11th Legislative District http://hdc.leg.wa.gov/members/hasegawa/ Hotline: 800/562.6000 Phone: 360/786.7862 Legislative Aide: Marissa Chavez Olympia Office: Mod B, Room 201 P.O. Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 360/786.7862