«Breaking News» California town trials universal income program giving 130 residents $500 for next year

Could universal basic income be the solution to crime, poverty and bankrupt cities? 

That's what one California town is trying to find out. 

Starting this month, 130 residents of Stockton, California, will receive a debit card loaded with $500 for the next 18 months that they're free to use at their own discretion. 

The program, overseen by the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), started on Friday.

'The need has only been reiterated. Folks are ready to use this money to pay bills, to save for the future, to pay off debt and pay for medicine,' SEED director Sukhi Samra said to the Sacramento Bee.

As of Friday, 130 residents of Stockton, California, will receive a debit card loaded with $500 for the next 18 months in a universal basic income program that seeks to solve poverty

The program is overseen by the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) and will run through August 2020. One in four residents live below the poverty line in Stockton

SEED will dole out the funds and study and analyze how the income boost affects residents' spending and saving, financial stability, and overall quality of life.

The initiative seeks to target poorer communities and see if giving a universal basic income, regardless of income level or employment status, can create a better, happier society.

For low-skilled workers, the money can make a big impact in keeping up with inflation and evening out the scales of wealth inequality. Wealth inequality has become all the more stark in California following the tech boom.  

The program is funding the project using a $1million grant from the Economic Security Project and another $2million from a foundations and individual donors. 

The program seeks to see if it can tackle financial stability and wealth inequality 

Stockton is a strategic place to start as it's been dubbed 'America’s foreclosure capital' and was the largest city to seek bankruptcy before Detroit filed in 2013.

During the 2008 recession Stockton was plagued with unemployment and violent crime.

Today isn’t much better as one in four residents live below the poverty line there, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

All the residents involved in the program have a median income at or below $46,033.  

'I think (the program) will make people work better and smarter and harder,' Mayor Michael Tubbs said in an interview with NPR last year. 

'I think (the program) will make people work better and smarter and harder,' Mayor Michael Tubbs said

'We’re not just designed just to work all day and run a rat race. We’re designed to be in community, to volunteer, to vote, to raise our kids. And I think the more inputs and investments we can give in people to do those things, the better off we are as a community,' he added. 

Similar universal wealth projects have taken place in Finland and Canada. After the trials finished they were notably not continued.

In California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris proposed a bill last year that would provide middle class and working families a tax credit of up to $6,000 a year that would come in the form of $500 monthly checks.

'SEED has already contributed to that conversation and re-conceptualizing what dignity is and not tying to work around deservedness and the poor and the working poor,' SEED director Samra said.

The Stockton program hopes to shares stories of progress among residents by March and the initiative will run through August 2020.   

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/16/california-town-trials-universal-income-program-giving-130-residents-500-for-next-year/
Main photo article Could universal basic income be the solution to crime, poverty and bankrupt cities? 
That’s what one California town is trying to find out. 
Starting this month, 130 residents of Stockton, California, will receive a debit card loaded with $500 for the next 18 months that they’re free ...

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Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.

Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca





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