PUBLIC BANK LA COALITION BUDGET LETTER TO MAYOR BASS AND LA CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Karen Bass
200 N Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

April 28, 2025

Re: Fund the Public Bank Plan and Invest in Our Future

Dear Mayor Bass and the Honorable Los Angeles City Councilmembers,

On behalf of over 70 organizations that have signed on, the Public Bank LA Coalition is urging the LA City Council to immediately fund the Public Bank feasibility study. Los Angeles stands at the intersection of multiple crises: soaring housing costs, wildfire threats, aging infrastructure, and economic inequities. Every year, the City spends $1.4 billion in debt service—including over $300 million in interest payments and banking fees to Wall Street banks. These are public funds we desperately need to protect homes from the next disaster, fast-track affordable housing construction, and empower workers and local businesses. It’s time we build a financial system that invests in us: a Los Angeles Public Bank.

A Public Bank is a nonprofit, city-owned, tax-exempt institution with one mission: keep public dollars working for the public good. Operating on a wholesale model—no branches, ATMs, or checking accounts—it maintains low overhead and reinvests resources, keeping profits in LA. Rather than competing with local lenders, it partners with them to bundle and leverage City funds for transformative, equitable projects. From new affordable housing to sustainable infrastructure, every loan aligns with our City’s goals, accountable to the public interest, not private shareholders.

The Public Bank is governed by an independent board and managed by financial experts separate from City Hall, ensuring strict state and federal regulatory oversight while aligning every dollar with the City’s equity and sustainability goals.

By leveraging its own resources, a Public Bank can fund city needs without raising taxes, cutting essential services, or increasing debt. It’s a practical solution to bridge the gap in our perpetual budget deficit and immediately fund local priorities.

Why a Public Bank Deserves Immediate Priority

1. 1. Supercharge affordable housing.
      Today’s affordable housing projects stagger under dozens of convoluted funding sources, slowing construction and inflating costs. By providing a streamlined “one-stop shop” for loans, the Public Bank can accelerate projects from concept to completion, helping families avoid the cascade into homelessness.

1. 1. Strengthen disaster response and resilience.
      Wildfires, floods, and earthquakes repeatedly strike with crippling effects. Relying on private banks in an emergency drags out financing, when time is critical. A Public Bank ensures rapid response funding stays at home, fueling fire-resistant infrastructure, landslide-prevention projects, and relief loans for families and small businesses.

1. 1. Save millions annually.
      Nearly half of our housing and infrastructure costs stem from private bank interest and fees, funds that should stay in LA. Financing through our own Public Bank cuts these extraneous costs. Through fractional reserve lending, each dollar deposited can generate up to ten dollars in lending power—10 times the impact, with loan repayments reinvesting back into the Public Bank.

1. 1. A proven model: Bank of North Dakota.
      The Bank of North Dakota (BND) is a century-tested blueprint for public-driven finance. Publicly owned since 1919, BND generated an 18% return on equity in 2023 and has transferred over $1 billion to the state’s general fund. From home mortgages, to student and agricultural loans, it invests over $1 billion in schools, water infrastructure, and healthcare. Its A+ S&P rating shows that a people-first, locally accountable Public Bank can be profitable, stable, and resilient.

The City Council has already unanimously approved the RFP funding and selected consultants. Now, we urge you to allocate $460,000 funds for Phase 1 of the RFP and launch the feasibility study. This critical step, made possible by the California Public Banking Act, will develop financial models, detail the bank’s business lines, mission, and capitalization strategies, showing how a Public Bank can create affordable housing, support labor, and build local wealth in Los Angeles. This small line item holds enormous potential to save millions in the short term, and reshape how we finance critical city projects.

Our Money, Our Values, Our Bank.

The Los Angeles Public Bank will build long-term equity, transforming the way we invest in our communities, and will:

• • Put equity and good jobs first by investing in neglected neighborhoods, creating well-paying, union jobs, and uplifting marginalized communities.

• • Accelerate housing and climate resilience by cutting out private lender bottlenecks and swiftly funding affordable housing and climate-ready infrastructure, without piling on new fees or debt.

• • Reinvest LA’s wealth locally by multiplying every deposit into local loans, fixing our streets and infrastructure, expanding public services, strengthening small businesses, and keeping millions from flowing to big banks.

On behalf of the working families, labor unions, and community organizations who keep Los Angeles running, we urge you to prioritize funding for the Public Bank feasibility study in the budget. As we brace for the next wildfire season and grapple with a deepening housing crisis, the time to act is now. Let’s keep our money where our hopes—and our homes—are.

Thank you for your leadership and for recognizing the historic opportunity before us.

Sincerely,

Public Bank LA Coalition
SEIU Local 721
LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
Public Bank Los Angeles
ACCE Action
Inclusive Action for the City
Move LA
United Parents and Students
Destination Crenshaw

ACCE Action (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment)
ACT-LA (Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles)
Africa Town Enterprise
AFSCME District Council 36
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) Southern California
Americans for Democratic Action Foundation of Southern California
Bend the Arc
Brotherhood Crusade
California Progressive Alliance
California Public Banking Alliance
CARECEN-LA (Central American Resource Center)
CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights)
CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice)
CoCo South LA (Community Coalition)
Community Power Collective
Courage California
Creating Justice LA
Democratic Socialists of America – Los Angeles
Destination Crenshaw
Eastside Leads
Elysian Valley Riverside Neighborhood Council
End Homelessness California
FIX LA
Friends of the Earth US
Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council     
Green Party of Los Angeles County                                           
Ground Game LA
Housing Now! California
Inclusive Action for the City
Indivisible California
Inner City Struggle
International Union Of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 501
KIWA (Koreatown Immigrants Workers Advocates)
LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
LA Forward Institute
LA Voice
LAANE (Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy)
LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO
Librarians Guild
Little Tokyo Service Center
LIUNA Local 777
Living Urban Ventures
Los Angeles Black Worker Center (LABWC)
Los Feliz Neighborhood Council
McCarty Memorial Christian Church
Move LA
Movement Legal
National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
Pasadena City College CORE Program
Public Bank LA (PBLA)
Public Bank Pomona Valley
Rise Economy
SAJE (Strategic Actions for a Just Economy)
SCOPE LA (Strategic Concepts in Organizing & Policy Education)
SEIU Local 721
SEIU-USWW
SoCal 350
South Asian Network
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Sunrise Movement LA
Teamsters Local 911
Thai Community Development Center
The Academy of Financial Education
The Church Without Walls – Skid Row
The Democracy Collaborative, Joe Guinan, President
The Row LA
United Parents and Students (UPAS)
United Teacher Los Angeles (UTLA)
United to House LA
United Way LA
US Solidarity Economy Network
USC Credit Union
Venice Community Housing Corporation
Voters of Tomorrow CA

CC:

• • Mayor Karen Bass 
  • Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson
  • President Pro Tempore Bob Blumenfield 
  • Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez
  • Councilmember Adrin Nazarian
  • Councilmember Nithya Raman
  • Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky 
  • Councilmember Ackley Padilla 
  • Councilmember Monica Rodriguez 
  • Councilmember Curren Price 
  • Councilmember Heather Hutt 
  • Councilmember Traci Park 
  • Councilmember John Lee 
  • Councilmember Hugo-Soto Martine
  • Councilmember Ysabel Jurado
  • Councilmember Tim McOsker

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