LOS ANGELES–In a market chock full of credit unions, three Los Angeles City councilmembers said they plan to pool funds and move forward a long-discussed idea: creating a public bank to serve the city’s residents. 

Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado is joining two of her colleagues in pledging $15,000 each from their discretionary funds for a study exploring the feasibility of establishing a public bank in L.A., according to BoyleHeightsBeat.com. 

“Creating a public bank would be a bold step toward reinvesting our public dollars directly into our communities,” Jurado said in a released statement. “Tough economic times give us an opportunity to look at ways we can uplift sustainable local economies.”

What is a Public Bank?

According to Public Bank LA, public banks are nonprofit lending and depository institutions that are owned by a local agency, such as a city or county, with a public mandate to serve the needs of the community.

A Los Angeles public bank, the initiative says, could leverage its deposit base and lending power to benefit residents with affordable housing and small business loans, BoyleHeightsBeat.com reported. 

Motion Proposed

Jurado – along with Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez – have introduced a motion proposing to release the funds to “contribute the first tranche of money needed to move forward with the feasibility study, the report stated.