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Big wins for LA. Read our latest newsletter! The Public Bank motion cleared committee, and 7 councilmembers including Council President Harris-Dawson, are now putting funds behind it! We just dropped our new State Bank brief, and later this month we’re at Destination Crenshaw for a community talk on money, power, and banking. Public Bank Motion Passes Government Operations Committee! The public bank motion passed at the September 5th Special Meeting of the Government Operations Committee at LA City Hall, chaired by Councilmember Imelda Padilla with Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado and John Lee. Huge thanks to the committee for their leadership and support. Next stop: Budget & Finance! View and download our Committee Fact Sheet. Public Bank LA’s Executive Director Trinity Tran and Move LA’s Executive Director Eli Lipmen presented the case for why LA must explore a public bank and create a permanent pool of capital to support city needs, especially as budgets tighten and...

Read our July 2025 Newsletter. Six LA Councilmembers Back Public Bank Plan with Their Own Funds The public bank plan is gaining momentum as six City Councilmembers step up by contributing discretionary funds from their own offices. Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield (CD 3) and Curren Price (CD 9) will officially join Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez (CD 1), Hugo Soto-Martinez (CD 13), and Ysabel Jurado (CD 14), with Councilmember Nithya Raman (CD 4) also adding her support. It’s time for the rest of the City Council to step up and follow their lead so we can build a city that invests in us. Now backed by these six offices, the plan will explore how LA can stop relying on Wall Street and start using its own funds to lower borrowing costs, cut fees, and invest directly in community needs like affordable housing, local businesses, and infrastructure. With LA spending over $1.4 billion a year on debt, we need real solutions to fund our...

From the Los Angeles Business Journal: As LA seriously considers launching its own public bank, Public Bank LA’s Executive Director, Trinity Tran, said, “This seed money is an important step toward creating a public bank for Los Angeles. It gives the city a way to stop outsourcing control of its resources and start using public dollars to solve public problems without raising taxes or cutting essential services. With deficits mounting, we can’t afford business as usual.” Councilmember Curren Price states, “It’s a necessary step to move the work forward. I’ve supported this effort from the start, which is why I committed discretionary funds to help launch the study.” Backed by now six council offices, the public bank plan will explore how the city can stop relying on Wall Street and start using its own funds to lower borrowing costs, cut fees, and invest directly in community needs like housing, local businesses, and infrastructure. With LA spending over $1.4 billion...

“Should Los Angeles establish a public bank?” LAist asked. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez says yes, and we agree! With deficits growing and federal financial systems prioritizing profit over the public good, LA needs local control over its capital. A public bank lets the City do more with what it has – without raising taxes or cutting services. Bank lobbyists have spread misleading claims. Los Angeles has never operated a bank. The failed LA Community Development Bank wasn’t a true bank, it was a loan fund that was “private sector-oriented.” It wasn’t chartered, didn’t take deposits, and lacked the structure and oversight of a regulated financial institution. The LA public bank would be fundamentally different as a state-chartered, professionally managed, and fully regulated public bank – and accountable to the people, not private shareholders. It would be designed for long-term financial sustainability and public benefit, not private profit. Opponents cite technical differences between...

Los Angeles Business Journal – July 7, 2025 – By Andrew Asch. Several Los Angeles City Council members put up seed funding to again explore the feasibility of creating a public bank for the city. Four Los Angeles City Council members took a critical step to bolster the campaign to develop the city’s first public bank. Councilman Curren Price Jr., a moderate who represents the city’s ninth district, has pledged $15,000 toward an effort to fund a feasibility study for a public bank, according to the city council agenda released on June 27.  He joined three of his progressive-leaning colleagues – council members Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Ysabel Jurado – all of whom in late May announced during a press conference their plans to earmark the same amount in funding toward the study. “It’s a necessary step to move the work forward,” said Price in a statement. “I’ve supported this effort from the start, which is why I committed...