Los Angeles City Council Votes 11-3 to Fund $460,000 Study on Creating a Municipal Public Bank
The Los Angeles City Council voted 11-3 on October 21 to allocate $460,000 to study the feasibility of creating a city-owned public bank. The plan, pushed by progressive council members, passed even as the city faces a projected $100 million budget gap.
According to the New York Post on October 22, the motion was introduced last year by Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Ysabel Jurado and Hugo Soto-Martinez, who have backing from socialist groups, and Councilmember Nithya Raman, a mayoral candidate, also supports it. Supporters argue a public bank could channel money into affordable housing, small businesses and infrastructure, keeping funds in Los Angeles rather than flowing to private profit.
Councilmember Traci Park of the Westside objected fiercely at the meeting: 'We can't even manage our own finances.' She asked: 'What sane person would turn over financial services to the Bank of Los Angeles? Absolutely none.' Critics also questioned the financial risks of a municipal banking institution and whether residents and businesses would trust the city with their money.
The plan has in fact been brewing at City Hall for years: in October 2021 the council unanimously approved studying a municipal bank, and in 2023 it voted 12-0 to allocate $460,000 to hire HR&A Advisors for a feasibility study, but the money was later swept back into the city's reserve fund and the plan stalled. This vote directs officials to identify a funding source for the study, possibly drawing on discretionary funds controlled by council offices. Raman's district allocated $15,000 in discretionary funds to the effort last year.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 洛杉矶市政厅 / Los Angeles City Hall — Daniel L. Lu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
