LOS ANGELES, CA - Los Angeles is taking another step toward opening a city-owned public bank that would support projects driven by public interest.

The City Council voted last week to fund a feasibility study for the bank after advocates argued it would do better than private banks to serve Black and Latino communities, small businesses, green energy initiatives and affordable housing projects.

Corporate banks "don't give back to our community," said Gisele Mata, an organizer at the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action. "In fact, they just take. We have no way to move our communities out of predatory lending unless we create our own, because banks do not operate in a way that gives back to their communities."

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