The full measure is rather long, and has been submitted to the Senate record, but in summary it is as follows:

The New Republic cannot build and supply ships, weapons, etc. to every one of its worlds; it simply does not have the means to do this, and never will. It is true that we have a large amount of surplus equipment (especially now that the peace treaty has been signed, for better or worse), but there is still not enough to go around. As a result, private companies and shipyards need to be the answer, as they currently are; the problem with the current system, however, is that if a world cannot afford to pay a private company or shipyard, it goes without defense. The free market, for all of its merits, is not interested in most worlds' security.

So, what such planets usually do is to seek loans from a bank. This is as it should be, and in most cases it solves the problem. However, the problem remains that many worlds, particularly those on the Outer Rim, cannot realistically afford to repay these loans even in the long term (because of prohibitive interest rates), and so banks will refuse to loan to them. Too often, then, these planets will turn to the New Republic Bank, which we operate, and which makes these worlds permanently indebted to us.

This is A.) not sustainable, and B.) not right; the government shouldn't be in the banking business any more than necessary, let alone playing such a big and intrusive role. Therefore, I propose the following:

1. The New Republic Bank is to be, mostly, dissolved; the New Republic will instead deposit 97.5% of its tax revenues into private bank accounts. This will accomplish two things; A.) it will strengthen our banks and encouraging lending by giving them more capital to work with, and B.) it will make the New Republic's money more secure, so that we don't keep all of our funds in one place. The full version of the bill explains both a bidding process and a lottery to determine which private banks to deposit our funds to, but this is too complicated to explain in the summary.

2. The New Republic Bank will remain, however, as a lender of last resort; if a bank is ordinarily unwilling to make a loan to a world that can't otherwise afford it, the New Republic Bank will agree to split the loan 50/50 with the private bank. The New Republic's 50% of the loan will have no interest, and no penalties for late payments. Furthermore, if the world in question is still unable to pay the other 50% of the loan to the private bank, the New Republic will reimburse the bank for that 50% (or whatever percent of the loan remains unpaid), and will absorb the loan on the same terms as described (no interest, no penalties).

The bottom line: this means that, literally, every New Republic world will be able to afford ships, weapons, and so on for its defense. Simultaneously, we are strengthening our banks and our economy, encouraging lending and ending prohibitive interest rates and penalties for our poorest worlds. All of this, while removing the government from the business of banking, which is none of its business (any more than necessary).

It is complicated, yes, and I will field any of your questions about it. In the meantime, I vote in favor.