National Public Bank Act

An act to provide for the general welfare by reestablishing a Federal Monetary System based on original US. Constitutional principles; to limit Congress to only Tax and Spend money toward the general welfare; to establish a Public Investment Trust within the Department of the Treasury for the purpose of holding all monies collected annually through Federal income taxation; to appropriate $495 billion from Congress and place it in the Public Investment Trust to ensure the equal protection of all similarly situated U.S. citizens; to build National Public Bank branches within each Congressional District, so that Congress may equally disburse all Public Investment Trust monies into them, based on population; to reset federal income tax levels to a flat 10% on all gross income; to reset the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour; to establish federal guidelines for loaning out these and all other Public Investment Trust monies toward the general welfare; to reorganize executive departments to best implement these federal guidelines at the community level; to create personal retirement accounts within Public Bank branches for all community members, so that repayment of Public Bank loans can be equally disbursed among them; to phase out the payroll tax once all personal retirement accounts are credited with the Social Security earnings owed each beneficiary; and for other purposes.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

 

TITLE I- ESTABLISHMENT OF A PUBLIC INVESTMENT TRUST ACCOUNT WITHIN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

SECTION 101. (a) There is hereby created in the United States Department of the Treasury an account to hold and disburse all annually collected Federal Income Taxes, to be known as the People’s Investment Trust Account, hereinafter in this act called the “Public Trust Account” or “Public Investment Trust.” It will serve as a direct conduit through which Congress can Tax and Spend to promote the general welfare. 

 

APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 102. (a) For the purpose of funding all initial Public Trust Investments, as defined in Title IX, Section 903 of this act, it is hereby authorized that the sum of $495 billion be appropriated, a one-time amount to rectify the unequal protection of similarly situated citizens as it pertains to their general welfare. (b) The sums made available under this Section, equal to the amount of taxpayer monies spent to enact the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, shall be derived purely from the exercise of Congressional Money Powers, and not from any newly collected taxpayer money or newly created Federal Reserve debt. (c) Once these monies are placed within the Public Investment Trust Account, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, by order of Congress, to divest the monies in accordance with Title IX guidelines. (d) This sum shall be hereinafter in this act called the “Initial Public Offering” or “IPO.” 

 

CAPITALIZATION OF THE PUBLIC INVESTMENT TRUST

SEC. 103. (a) It is hereby authorized that at the end of each tax year, a sum equivalent to 10% of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for that year will be directly added to the Public Investment Trust Account from the collection of federal income taxes by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as defined by Title II of this act. (b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall submit an annual accounting of all monies received, as well as all disbursements to District Communities, as defined by Title IV of this act. (c) All sums referring to the annual collection and disbursement of Federal Income Taxation on gross income earned (employee wages, salaries, tips, etc.) and unearned (investment, profits, rent, gifts, etc.) shall be hereinafter in this act be referred to as the “Federal Income Investment,” “annual income investment,” or “annual investment.” 

 

 

TITLE II- RESETTING FEDERAL INCOME TAX LEVELS TO A TEN PERCENT FLAT TAX ON ALL GROSS INCOME

SECTION 201. (a) to simplify the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, it is hereby authorized to set income tax levels to a flat ten percent on all gross income obtained within a calendar year by U.S. citizens, both home and abroad, as well as legal residents of the United States, whether the income is earned (as through employee wages, salaries, tips, etc.) or unearned (as through investment, profits, economic rent of “property,” stock options, gifts, etc.). (b) The deadline for filing and payment of this tax will be April 15 each year, whether the taxpayer obtained personhood by natural or legal means. (c) There is hereby only one deduction allowed under this Title: documented payment of wages, tips, bonuses, or gifts which consequently obligates the recipient to pay the 10% flat tax on these monies instead. (d) The amount each person contributes to the Public Investment Trust in any given year, through the 10% flat income tax, will hereinafter in this act be called their “personal income investment.”

 

 

TITLE III- RAISING FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE TO FIFTEEN DOLLARS PER HOUR OF LABOR

SECTION 301. (a) In accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Labor Act of 1938 (§ 205. Repealed. Pub.L. 110-28, Title VIII, § 8103, (c) (1) (A), May 25, 2007, 121 Stat. 189), every employer shall pay to each employee who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages not less than the rate of $15 an hour. (b) The effective date of this wage adjustment will coincide with the elimination of the payroll tax, as defined in Title VII of this act.

 

 

TITLE IV- ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL BANK BRANCHES

APPORTIONMENT

SECTION 401. (a) As soon as practicable, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency, in cooperation with the Census Bureau, Congressional Budget Office, State Redistricting Committees, and other reliable sources, will divide each Congressional District into no more than seven subdivisions with populations of no less than 100,000 people. (b) These district subdivisions will hereinafter in this act be called “District Communities” or simply “communities.” (c) The District Communities thus created may be readjusted geographically over time. New districts or new communities may be added or subtracted as well, as state populations shift. It will be the duty of Public Bank branches to track their populations and report to the Secretary of the Treasury and all others involved in the redistricting process.

 

CONSTRUCTION

SEC. 402. (a) Each District Community’s share of the annual Public Investment Trust will be placed in a newly constructed publicly owned bank, hereinafter in this act called a “National Public Bank Branch,” “Public Bank branch,” or “Public Bank.” A Public Bank branch will hereby be built within each District Community. Its design and construction shall be overseen by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at minimal cost to the people, the amount of which will be authorized for appropriation from the Public Investment Trust Account, once the Initial Public Offering has been deposited in it, as defined in Title I, Section 102 of this act. (1) A “District Bank” may also be built to connect all District Community branches together, if Congress deems it necessary and proper to provide for the general welfare; a “State Bank” may be built for this reason as well, to connect all the “District Banks” within a particular state. The addition of District or State Banks should in no way be construed to establish a hierarchal structure, but rather to further facilitate the interconnection, effectiveness, and efficiency of all Public Bank branches. 

(b) Each Public Bank branch will be built to accommodate a local staff whose sole purpose is to ensure the general welfare of its District Community. Staff expertise will include—but is not limited to—areas of health, education, energy, transportation, communication, agriculture, water and waste management, housing, community planning and development, business mentorship, civil engineering, and other purposes, as defined by Title VI of this act.

 

CAPITALIZATION OF PUBLIC BANK BRANCHES

SEC. 403. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury will divide the $495 billion IPO by the total number of U.S. citizens (who as of 2024 number approximately 342 million, equal to $1445 per person), then place these “personal shares” in each Public Bank branch based on the total population of its District Community (a population of 100,000, for example, when personal shares equal $1445, would yield $1,445,000,000 in “startup capital” for each branch). From this IPO, Public Branches will be constructed, as well as the initial public investments in “essential economic infrastructure,” defined by Title IX of this act. (b) It will also be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to oversee the transfer of all subsequent annual income investments from the Public Trust Account to every Public Bank branch, for use by each District Community. Redistribution of Public Trust monies will always be divided into equal shares based on total U.S. population, then disbursed according to the number of people residing within each District Community. (c) The Secretary of the Treasury shall record all transactions in annual reports to Congress, the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the full content of which will subsequently be made available to the public, along with how each district community (generally) utilized the monies allocated to it. 

 

 

TITLE V- ESTABLISHMENT OF PERSONAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS

SECTION 501. (a) DEFINITIONS: The annual amount each community receives from the Public Investment Trust will hereinafter in this act be called the “Community Investment Share” or “community share,” which is the sum of equal “personal investment shares” or “personal shares” derived by dividing the total amount collected annually from the 10% flat income tax by the number of personal retirement account holders as of January 1 of that year. Holders of a personal retirement account will hereinafter in this act be called “account shareholders.” The amount of personal income investment required to be eligible for this “personal share” each year will hereinafter in this act be called the “average minimum investment requirement.” The annual monies flowing into the personal retirement accounts of each community member, from the repayment of outstanding federal loans made on behalf of the community, will hereinafter in this act be called the “Annual Return on Investment” or “yearly ROI.” The monthly disbursement of accumulated yearly ROI from a personal retirement account, when its beneficiary reaches retirement age, will hereinafter in this act be called the “monthly retirement benefit,” “retirement dividend,” “retirement benefit,” or “federal annuity payment.” 

 

(b) There is hereby created an account for every natural born citizen, established on the first day of January in the year following their birth, which will accrue principal and interest payments from Public Bank loans until death. (c) For naturalized citizens, an account will be established the first day of January in the year following naturalization and accrue principal and interest from Public Bank loans until death. (d) All Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) are eligible to receive a personal retirement account and receive an annual Return on Investment, but only for those years that they maintain the average minimum investment requirement. (e) Upon the death of each account holder, their account will be closed, and any remaining funds will be redistributed into a general fund, to be used as Congress sees fit to provide for the general welfare. (f) U.S. citizens already in possession of a “Social Security Number” can use this as their account number until Congress determines a different system of identification.

 

PERSONAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNT LOGISTICS

SEC. 502. (a) To be eligible for the full annual Return on Investment, each account shareholder must maintain the average minimum investment requirement for that year. Until Congress alters this average minimum investment requirement, it will remain as follows:

(1) $2000 each year, beginning at age 21, until the age of 67. Whenever someone’s personal income investment falls under this $2000 threshold for a given year, the difference—up to the full $2000—will be debited from that person’s yearly Return on Investment, although the monies will remain within that District Community’s Public Bank branch, to be reinvested toward its general Welfare goals.

(b) Before each community receives its share from the Public Investment Trust Account, its local Public Bank branch staff will have earmarked the money for local economic infrastructure projects that serve that District Community’s general welfare. Public Bank branch staff may only allocate money from the Community Investment Share in the form of Public Bank branch loans, given at a fixed rate of 4% per annum, to be paid back in 30 years, unless otherwise stipulated; staff must also clearly establish, prior to allocating any monies, the method by which these various loans will be paid back. Methods will include—but are not limited to—public usage fees; monthly bills, charges, or rent payments; annual or bi-annual community payments; purchases, or purchase agreements. Whenever possible, Public Bank branch loans will be “self-liquidating.”

(c) As loans are paid back, the monies—both principal and interest—will be equally divided among all community shareholders and placed within their personal retirement accounts. Under no circumstances can these monies be personally withdrawn by the shareholder; however, accounts may undergo the following alterations:

(1) Monthly retirement benefits will eventually be disbursed from personal retirement accounts as defined in Section 503 of this Title.

(2) An amount not surpassing the total shareholder’s Return on Investment for that year may be confiscated for reasons defined in Section 504 of this Title.

(3) An amount not to exceed 50% of all retirement account holdings may be voluntarily reinvested in a federally approved public investment, such as a small business either inside or outside the shareholder’s community, generally because all monies within either the Public Investment Trust or the Community Investment Share have been allocated to other projects, and a District Community’s local staff is asking for individual shareholders to volunteer investment capital from their personal retirement account. In this situation, the individual shareholder i) must agree to make the investment, as well as how much they are willing to invest, and ii) will be repaid in full (the principal) plus their share of the fixed 4% rate of interest that has accrued on the overall loan.

(d) When individuals wish to borrow money from the Community Share, to purchase, refinance, or upgrade a home, buy a personal vehicle, take out a student loan, or to fund a federally approved personal (small local) business, they must do so through their Public Bank branch, until Congress determines otherwise. As with all loans borrowed from a District Community Public Bank branch, money paid back will be equally divided among the personal retirement accounts of that District Community’s shareholders. 

 

DISTRIBUTION OF RETIREMENT DIVIDENDS

SEC. 503. (a) Every qualified individual (as defined in section 401) shall be entitled to receive, with respect to the period beginning on the date they attain the age of sixty-seven, and ending on the date of their death, an “old-age benefit” (payable in equal monthly installments) as follows: 
(1) Monthly Retirement Benefit = ([T ¸ (100 – A)] + I) ¸ 12, where T equals the Total amount in a person’s personal retirement account when they choose to begin receiving benefits, A is the Age of the recipient at that moment, and Iequals the amount of Income that has accrued from the previous year’s Return on Investment (ROI). The previous year’s ROI will be added to the present year’s allotment before dividing this subtotal into 12 monthly retirement dividend payments for the upcoming calendar year. 

 

GROUNDS FOR CONFISCATION OF ANNUAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT

SEC. 504. (a) Certain actions or inactions by holders of a personal retirement account may constitute grounds for confiscation of part or all of an individual’s annual Return on Investment:

 

(1) Individuals incarcerated for a criminal offense will lose their annual return on investment for the period of their incarceration, to directly pay for their rehabilitation, which will include mental and physical healthcare, as well as specific job training chosen by the individual as defined in Title X of this act.

(2) Individuals admitted to a long-term or permanent health care facility will lose their annual Return on Investment to pay for their care and other needs.

(3) Individuals unable to pay an outstanding debt owed to the Public Bank in a given year, such as the annual minimum investment requirement or Land Value Rent, monthly bills or rent, personal loans, etc., shall have the monies or the interest owed on the monies (or in some cases, both) subtracted from their personal retirement account, but only up to the amount of total ROI accumulated during that calendar year. These monies owed can be paid back into the personal retirement account at any time, with no additional penalty. a) If, at any point after age 21 and prior to age 67, an individual, for two consecutive years, owes more to the Public Bank than is being deposited into their personal retirement account, actions will be necessary, as outlined in Title X of this act.

(4) Although every effort will be made to convince people that economic mutualism is the path that led to human existence, some may still seek various forms of intraspecific kleptoparasitism instead. It will no longer serve the general welfare to allow noncontributing Americans to utilize the same infrastructure other Americans are working to provide; the annual investment share of all financially noncontributing people will be confiscated, pooled together with others who choose the same path, then used to build the necessary economic infrastructure to sustain them, upon some yet-to-be-determined federally-owned land. a) The strategy for building this specific community, to provide for the general welfare of those who prefer economic disconnection, will be outlined in Title X of this act.

(6) Congress has the authority to add further financial penalties for (a) failure to comply with guidelines that affect the general welfare, or (b) infringe upon the life, liberty, health, or financial well-being of others. 

 

 

TITLE VI- REORGANIZATION OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

SECTION 601. (a) To successfully facilitate public investment in essential economic infrastructure, it is hereby authorized that the Executive Departments which correspond to all essential needs defined in Title IX of this act first be reorganized in the following manner:

(1) It is hereby authorized that a Department of Communication be established within the Executive Branch, to set guidelines for construction and maintenance of a publicly owned communication grid.

(2) It is hereby authorized that a Department of Water & Waste Management be established within the Executive Branch, to set guidelines for construction and maintenance of a publicly owned water and waste management infrastructure.

(3) As soon as practicable, a “Congressional facing” management team will be established for the following executive departments:

1. Department of Energy

2. Department of Agriculture

3. Department of Water and Waste Management

4. Department of Health and Human Services

5. Department of Education

6. Department of Transportation

7. Department of Communication

8. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Each will be based in Washington D.C., and function solely to set general guidelines for construction of the next generation of economic infrastructure in terms of sustainability (as defined in Title IX, Section 902 of this act), affordability, safety, efficiency, positive health outcomes, and for all other purposes deemed necessary and proper to promote the general welfare.  

(4) As soon as practicable, each District Community will assemble a “public facing” management team, who will operate out of Public Bank branch offices; their purpose will be to merge Congressional guidelines with District Community needs and wishes, to develop the essential economic infrastructure necessary to provide the general welfare. 

a.) Local hiring preferences will apply regarding selection of all local management, as well as civil and commercial construction; design and creative control will also be left to individual communities. Public Bank branch management will be the contractor on all work funded by the Public Bank, to eliminate all profit-seeking and intermediary outsourcing; it is hereby authorized that all projects must be built “at cost.”

b.) Local management teams should include engineers, scientists, technologists, and innovators in their department’s specific field, who can advise architects and developers how to build all public investments in the most cost effective, safe, and sustainable manner possible.

c.) Some general guidelines for building this essential infrastructure can be found in Title IX of this act.

d.) These changes will represent a shift in federal government reorganization away from federal spending to employ administration and oversight that is far removed from the communities they are paid to serve. As such, federal executive department employment may be significantly downsized, although every effort will be made to place current federal employees in either a federal or community position, depending on whether their credentials fit the needs of these District Communities.

 

 

TITLE VII- PHASING OUT THE PAYROLL TAX

SECTION 701. (a) As soon as practicable, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency, in cooperation with the Social Security Administration (SSA), will begin to transfer the accumulated earnings of each working American from their Social Security Account over to their personal retirement account. (1) Note: all money earned through labor is automatically imbued with value, thus any monies created by Congress to pay for labor already performed does not need to be paid back; neither does any other portion of U.S. National Debt created to directly pay for labor already performed. It was unnecessary for the federal government to borrow the earned Social Security income of the American workforce to pay for the labor of someone else; Congress could have simply created the money necessary to pay for any labor it had requisitioned, through its Constitutional Money Powers. Therefore, Congress can re-create the money necessary to pay American workers back for however much they (and their employers) already relinquished through payroll taxation, which represents the legitimate value of past labor that the laborer never received. (b) Once this money sits within each person’s personal retirement account, the payroll tax can then be phased out completely, to save employers and employees from this extraneous cost.

 

 

TITLE VIII- ADDITION OF A FEDERAL LAND VALUE TAX

SECTION 801. (a) to provide for the common defense, and for other purposes, a 1% tax will hereby be assessed on the current appraised value of all privately utilized land (minus any permanent structures, personal property, or other improvements upon it). (b) The Department of the Treasury will collect this annual tax on January 1 of each calendar year, delinquent by February 15. (c) Responsibility for paying the Land Value Tax falls to the owner of the property; when the government owns the property, anyone residing on the property as commercial, residential, or temporary tenants will be charged a portion of the Land Value Tax as a form of rent. (d) The overall amount collected will serve to maintain all parts of the federal government not associated with providing for the general welfare (all costs associated with providing for the general welfare must be covered through the Public Bank business models used to supply America’s essential needs). (e) Failure to pay the Land Value Tax will result in the monies being withdrawn from the personal retirement account of whoever is currently charged to provide payment. This debit can be paid back into an individual’s personal retirement account at any time, without penalty.

 

TITLE IX- GUIDELINES FOR PUBLIC INVESTMENT

PRELIMINARY STEPS

SECTION 901. (a) To provide for the general welfare and equal protection of all U.S. residents, the following economic infrastructure is hereby designated as “essential:”

1. Energy

2. Agriculture

3. Water and Waste Management

4. Healthcare

5. Education

6. Transportation

7. Communication

8. Housing

 

(b) In addition to the infrastructure necessary to maintain economic sustainability, the following economic conditions are hereby deemed equally “essential” to providing for the general welfare:

1. Employment Security

2. Old-age Financial Security

To assist in securing more employment opportunities for community members, Public Bank branches will provide small business loans and microloans to all those who qualify, as well as advise them how to best structure their businesses for success, which would enhance the general welfare of all community shareholders / investors. To ensure the financial stability of all citizens and lawful permanent residents upon reaching retirement age, Public Bank branches will maintain the personal retirement accounts of all community shareholders, as defined in Title V of this act.

 

INFRASTRUCTURE GUIDELINES

SEC. 902. (a) to best provide for the general welfare of all citizens and lawful permanent residents requires creating a closed-loop, sustainable, infinitely recyclable—or “circular”—economic system, akin to the natural (or biological) economic system already established within each person. To maintain this trajectory will require following certain natural economic guidelines; this will include—but is not limited to—the following:

 

(1) If Money is the lifeblood of human-contrived economics, then it must flow freely to every cell in the body and back through a singular heart capable of pumping it back out again, with no parasitic “blood loss.” The parasitic drain of each person’s economic value puts unhealthy stress on the entire body. This act is designed to stop the parasitic drain of value from our system. People, like the cells that comprise them, can create enough value to not only sustain themselves, but generate a reasonable surplus. This act is designed for each person to utilize 90% of their economic value for themselves and invest the other 10% to secure the blessing of liberty to themselves and their posterity.

 

(2) We need look no further than our Private Healthcare System to understand what is wrong with our economics. Societally, poor health outcomes are a loss; economically, they represent a huge financial gain (nearly 20% of our GDP). Importantly, fueling every poor health outcome is a poor health choice; these choices are also “legally” offered by the private sector, to again turn a huge profit (6% of GDP for alcohol, tobacco, and drugs alone). We have managed to create a circular economy based on suffering; we have financialized suffering, or more accurately, we have financialized violence. The violence exists because people have reactively institutionalized it over the past 200 generations. Governments are instituted among people to manage their economics and nothing more. The economic trauma of oppression, suffered long ago, has epigenetically altered all of us and veered humanity off its original mutualistic course, toward the intraspecific violence we experience as wealth inequality but biologically experience as parasitism; it has created a positive feedback loop of ever-escalating violence that only seems “normal” because it has been normalized. The external violence is more obvious: war, homicide, incarceration, suicide, assault, domestic violence, etc., but those who choose not to “externalize” their feelings of violence internalize them instead, through addictions, stress, and self-abuse, where they end up as part of our meticulously compiled health statistics, waiting for someone to correctly interpret the data. While we wait, U.S. healthcare currently costs Americans nearly $5 trillion. Much of this is private greed. A Public healthcare option, funded through the Public Investment Trust, will drop this cost to $1 trillion, but this $1 trillion is still a cost that must be covered. How Public Banks will collect this cost is defined in The Universal Public Healthcare Act, but the infrastructure necessary to offer preventive and proactive forms of healthcare will be built using Public Bank branch loans in every community, that District Community members financially cover through payment of healthcare premiums. 

 

(3) Energy conversion is essential to existence, but to be sustainable, must mimic observed natural processes and create byproducts that are of value somewhere else in the circular economy of the planet. (a) If a nuclear option is to be revisited, the process must be capable of utilizing (and eliminating) the radioactive waste already created by initial forms of nuclear power and weapons production, as well as burn the weapons-grade materials within the nuclear weapons themselves. (b) We must maximize energy production from all forms of waste management. (c) 

We can no longer afford to outsource production of components needed for solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, ocean, air humidity, and hydrogen energy. (d) We must increase energy efficiency through technology, but also get better at conserving the energy we already produce. 

 

(4) Sustainable agricultural practices are also a top priority. Regenerative, vertical, and hydroponic farming options must be made readily available to every community through Public Bank branch loans. Meanwhile, meat production is unsustainable. With thousands of district communities working individually on this problem, solutions will be found more readily, and more readily adopted by other communities. Economics generated from the ground up works better simply because it is how nature has always practiced it.

 

(5) Where Education proves essential to the economic function of society, it serves the general welfare to provide it, but there is no reason public education needs to be a sunk cost conferred upon the U.S. taxpayer. How essential needs education will be implemented, as well as financed, is defined in Title X of this act.  

 

(6) Transportation is a health cost filled with unnecessary accidents and pollution. Theft of vehicles is another unnecessary cost. Our system and use of roads are immensely wasteful; traffic jams waste time and parking solutions waste space. Again, it is up to the many district communities to innovate solutions to these problems, share them with each other, and convert transportation into a sustainable economic good. 

 

(7) A Public or Universal Communication Grid is essential to the operation of a connected economy. Of primary importance is the ability for District Communities to connect with each other to protect their investments: banking, healthcare, education, agriculture, as well as other essential needs services requiring a dedicated communication network to share best practices and grow the overall economy. The public communication grid will require highspeed data transmission within every District Community to handle continually evolving technological demand.

 

(8) The essentiality of Housing has made it an easy target for private profit-seekers; Public Bank branches must level the playing field. (a) Affordable housing will be built for essential needs workers hired by each community, so those who work in the community can afford to live in the community. (b) Affordable homes will be built for families who live in each community. (c) Housing will also be built to accommodate various healthcare and / or educational needs, in accordance with requests from those executive departments, as defined in Title X of this act.

 

(9) It is important that District Communities a) replace their Water and Sewer pipes with the safest, most affordable option, b) apply sustainable biological solutions to the water recycling process, and c) utilize energy-producing technology during both water and waste management.

 

INITIAL PUBLIC TRUST INVESTMENTS

SEC. 903. (a) As the general welfare first requires federal government to help remedy Anthropogenic Emissions, Public Bank branches will focus on rebuilding more sustainable versions of the U.S. Energy Grid, Transportation Grid, and local Agriculture, as well as utilize more sustainable methods to provide construction resource materials for these projects (steel, concrete, and lumber production, mineral extraction, etc.). Based on EPA Emissions Inventory, projects within certain District Communities may receive a higher priority than others, but all must be completed as soon as possible. The IPO can kickstart these projects until the annual income investment creates enough capitalization to finish them in a timely manner.

 

SECONDARY PUBLIC TRUST INVESTMENTS

SEC. 904. (a) Because the following infrastructure is essential to the general welfare, it can no longer be privatized, or utilize private outsourcing or management, but will instead become the property of the Public Investment Trust, managed through each District Community’s Public Bank branch: (1) Healthcare Infrastructure, (2) Public Education Infrastructure, (3) Affordable Housing options, (4) Water / Waste Management Infrastructure, and (5) Communication Grid Infrastructure. These projects will be greenlighted as soon as the first Community Share of the 10% income investment is deposited in each District Community Public Bank branch.

 

TERTIARY PUBLIC TRUST INVESTMENTS

SEC. 905. (a) HOUSING

Current homeowners with outstanding mortgages can refinance their home loan through a Public Branch instead. The Public Branch will assume all private bank loans; there is no need for the Public Trust Account to reimburse the private bank any monies, as the money created by the private bank was of no real value; only the money earned through the homeowner’s labor and received by the private bank in mortgage payments was of legitimate value, which the private bank may keep. When a home loan is refinanced through a Public Bank branch, the loan will be structured as follows: 

(1) The District Community Public Bank branch will claim the land under the home, removing this cost from the total amount remaining on the mortgage. Going forward, the Public Bank branch will instead charge the owner an annual Land Value Rent equal to 1% of the determined value at the time of the refinance agreement (to own the permanent improvements will automatically entitle said owner to utilize the land underneath it for as long as the land remains the property of the United States), (2) The owner will be responsible for paying the remaining principal balance at a rate of 4% per annum; both principal and interest will be placed into the general Public Trust Account, where it will be disbursed among the personal retirement accounts of all public investors within that District Community. 

(2) A Public Branch may also be used to finance the sale of homes from a previous owner; loans will be structured as follows: 

a.) the seller will be charged 10% capital gains on the difference between the current sale price and their original purchase price, to be paid directly to the District Community Public Bank branch, 

b.) the agent(s) used in the sale will also be charged 10% capital gains on whatever they receive from the sale of the home, which will also go to the District Community Public Bank branch, 

c.) the District Community Public Bank branch will claim the land under the home, removing this cost from the total sale price. Going forward, the Public Bank branch will instead charge the owner an annual Land Value Rent equal to 1% of the determined value at the time of the sale, 

d.) The buyer will be responsible for paying 10% of the land value upon sale of the property (considered the “down payment”), as well as principal and interest on a 30-year 4% fixed-rate loan from the Public Bank branch, equal to the remaining cost owed once the Land Value is subtracted from the sale price. All loan payments will remain with the District Community Public Bank branch, where they will be equally disbursed into the personal retirement accounts of all community shareholders. (a) Example: A $100k house with a land value of $50k is sold to a buyer for $206k. The agents, who each made $3k, will consequently owe $300 each to the District Community Public Bank. The seller will owe $10k to the District Community Public Bank on their $100k capital gain. The buyer will owe a down payment of $5k (equal to 10% of the land value). The District Community Public Bank will purchase the remaining land value ($45k), and the buyer will take out a loan worth $156k from the District Community Public Bank branch. Finally, the buyer will owe $500 a year in Land Value Rent (on the $50k value of the land), payable to the District Community Public Bank.

e.) Other stipulations include: (i) whether or not the federal government holds title to the land underneath a home, all property owners will incur a 1% Land Value Rent once it is officially implemented, and (ii) if a homeowner lapses on their monthly payments, the Public Branch will make no attempt to foreclose upon them, although 4% interest will continue to accrue, be withdrawn from the owner’s personal retirement account, and transferred into that District Community’s Public Bank branch, until the balance of the loan is paid off (note: if mortgage delinquency exceeds three months, principal plus interest may both be withdrawn from the owner’s personal retirement account, in amounts never exceeding annual ROI, until all delinquent monies are recovered). Finally, (iii) Until Congress determines otherwise, land will only be purchased by Public Bank branches during residential and commercial property sales where a Public Bank financial loan is being negotiated, or when a District Community wishes to purchase the land as an investment capable of recouping the cost of the initial purchase (in instances where the general welfare is involved, federal government may have cause to claim eminent domain over land on behalf of District Communities). 

 

(b) OTHER COMMERCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

It is in the general welfare of each District Community to own the commercial buildings that house local businesses, to both employ community members as well as convert a portion of their consumer purchases into retirement dividends for the entire community. Extraction of exorbitant economic rent pulls value out of communities twice, because it also drives the inflationary pricing of goods. Public ownership of the commercial infrastructure will help ensure all the value a community creates remains within the community, to be realized at retirement age, with a monthly dividend from each person’s personal retirement account. 

 

(c) COMMUNITY BUSINESS LOANS 

To protect the people’s Public Investment in themselves, it will be the mission of all Public Bank branch personnel to help those small business owners wishing to create value for the community, as this ultimately serves the welfare of all. To help these local businesses to succeed, and thereby generate a Return on Investment for the entire District Community, the following process will generally be followed: new businesses will first be set up to beta test their products or services in smaller physical or online spaces, allowing Public Bank personnel to adjust the business model until it is ready to move into a larger commercial space or online presence. If the business feels it is successful enough to “go Public,” it certainly can shop its services around to any District Community, to see who might invest some of their Community Share in it.

 

 

TITLE X- GUIDELINES FOR INVESTING IN PEOPLE THROUGH EDUCATION

SECTION 1001. (a) Mutual economic growth requires the maximum number of people working to provide the general welfare and the minimum number of people working to disrupt it. As soon as practicable, the executive department of education, in conjunction with the departments of energy, agriculture, communication, health and human services, housing and urban development, water and waste management, and transportation, will develop two-year apprenticeship programs—with coinciding associate degrees—enabling participating students to develop, manufacture, build, and maintain every necessary component to provide these essential needs to U.S. District Communities and beyond. 

(b) As the curriculum is made ready, infrastructure will be built, through the issuance of loans from every District Community Public Bank branch, to facilitate the following people:

 

(1) It will hereby be required for all high school students to secure a two-year associate degree in one of the essential needs fields of their choosing, to be undertaken during their junior and senior years of high school. Associate degree programs will be separated by department then offered in eight different locations within each Congressional District, preferably on high school campuses. Because students may be relocated away from their school districts, both onsite dormitory housing and transportation will be built to accommodate these potential inconveniences. These degrees are considered “apprenticeships,” meaning that hands-on work will be performed to provide for the general welfare (locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally) while perfecting the skills necessary to earn the degree; the hours accumulated working will go toward paying for their education.

a.) For public education to be sustainable, it can no longer be a sunk cost, therefore, it is hereby authorized that each person’s annual Return on Investment, which begins accruing within a personal retirement account starting in the first year of their birth, will be withdrawn annually to pay for their public education, until they reach the age of 18. Meanwhile, for every legitimate hour of labor a child performs in the service of the general welfare, during ages 1-18, through the public education system, $15 will be credited back into their retirement account. 

b.) Prior to earning an associate degree, public-school children will become knowledgeable in all areas pertaining to the general welfare—health, education, energy and food production, communication, transportation, engineering, construction, waste management, science, technology, etc.—which will create job opportunities for them within their community, to begin repaying their education prior to their junior and senior years, if they so choose. Some may overachieve and ultimately accrue more in retirement dividends than was ever withdrawn from their annual ROI. Those who do not fully recover the first 18 years of retirement dividends will begin accruing dividends from age 19 until death without further educational withdrawals. Only labor performed prior to age 19, through the public education system, will be credited to a child’s personal retirement account. 

 

(2) It will hereby be required that all those incarcerated in local, state, or federal prisons, regardless of the offenses laid against them, be enrolled in a two-year associate degree program of their choosing; in all but extreme cases, their sentence will be commuted to time served once they graduate the program, where they will be placed in a job, the location being left to the discretion of the supervising Parole Board. If convicted of murder or two or more violent felonies, there will be facilities built where inmates can work outside of District Communities, get paid, contribute to society, and still accumulate retirement dividends until it is determined whether they can rejoin a District Community.

 

(3) It will hereby be required that all undocumented immigrants currently under custody be moved to a facility to begin associate degree education in the field of their choice; graduates will begin a process to attain lawful permanent residence, which will also require a two year “residency period,” the scope of which will be determined by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

a.) Two-year residency periods are a prerequisite for lawful permanent residency; undocumented immigrants will work—and be paid to work—to provide for the general welfare wherever it may be needed, including international missions. During residency periods, workers will receive all their essential needs, as well as job placement opportunities ready for when their residency period is finished, and lawful permanent residency is established. All residency and post residency logistics will be negotiated and agreed upon by all parties prior to commencement.

 

(4) All high school associate degree facilities will hereby be made available to adult residents within their Congressional Districts, offering classes weekday evenings, as well as weekends, so that people might have the opportunity to switch careers to one of the essential needs fields of their choice.

 

(5) Once facilities are set up for education and healthcare outside District Communities, to house currently incarcerated individuals enrolled in associate degree programs, it will hereby be required that any individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence will be moved to one of these communities, to afford them every chance to get the healthcare they need, as well as the opportunity to study for an associate degree. Upon completion of a degree, as well as clearance from the attending healthcare facility, every effort will be made to place them back into a District Community setting. a.) Special housing will be built, through the Department of Health and human Services, within District Communities for uses such as these, where someone struggling can secure housing while transitioning either out of or back into District Community life.

 

(c) In all cases listed above except (3), the initial funding—and continued maintenance—for these facilities will be taken from the confiscation of every participating individual’s ROI, for the two years corresponding to their education. In the case of (3)—undocumented immigrants—the two-year residency period required before lawful permanent residency is considered where this investment will be paid back, as newly educated but undocumented immigrants will be placed where U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services feels they will best serve the general welfare of the United States. This may require the use of undocumented immigrants, as well as high school students, to spread their skills out to designated Global Communities in need of essential needs training, as part of a macroeconomic push to replace economic parasitism with economic mutualism. As explained previously, this can be an opportunity for high school students to recoup the two years of personal retirement dividends lost to obtain this mandatory associate degree.

 

 

TITLE XI- GENERAL PROVISIONS

RULES AND REGULATIONS

SECTION 1101. The Secretary of the Treasury shall make and publish such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, as may be necessary to the efficient administration of the functions with which each is charged under this Act.

 

SEPARABILITY

SEC. 1102. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

 

RESERVATION OF POWER

SEC. 1003. The right to alter or amend any provision of this Act is hereby reserved to the Congress, or by veto referendum, in the states that allow them.

 

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 1004. This Act may be cited as the National Public Bank Act.