PITTSBURGH, PA (September 8, 2021)City Councilwill considerMayor William Peduto'splans fortheAssured Cash Experiment PGH (AcePGH), aguaranteed basic income pilotto combat poverty and inequitythat will providean unrestricted$500monthly cash transferto 200people in theCity of Pittsburgh.One hundredofthe participantswill be Black women in responseto inequities that Black women face in Pittsburgh, as clearly defined inthe 2019 Gender Equity Commission reportPittsburgh’s Inequality Across Gender and Race.
According to the report,Black women and children are more likely to live in poverty in Pittsburgh than comparable cities. Pittsburgh’s Black women arefive timesas likely as whitemento live in poverty andtwice aslikelythan whitewomen.In response to this,the Office of Mayor Peduto has designed aguaranteedbasic income policy to address the poverty inequitably facedby Black women in our communities attherecommendation of theGender Equity Commission report.
Guaranteed basic income was championed byRev. Dr. Martin Luther King who said that poverty could be eradicated by providing every American a direct, guaranteed middle-class income. Heargued thatthat other programs to address povertywere less effective in that theyseekto address one root cause at a time,writing“the programs of the past all have another common failing – they are indirect. Each seeks to solve poverty by first solving something else.”
Last summer, Mayor Peduto joined Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a forward-thinking network of mayors from around the country started by Mayor Michael Tubbs of Stockton, California.Following Dr. King’s philosophy, they advocateprovidingdirect, unrestrictedrecurringcash payments to residents togive them a boost andan income floor that lifts up families who have been struggling long before the pandemic.
The City of Pittsburgh will join cities nationwide in utilizing relief funds from the American Rescue Plan to fund part of the programthroughOnePGH,anonprofit organization that is supported by public and private investment to allow for the collaboration of local government, business, philanthropy and nonprofitsto improve the lives of all Pittsburghers.The programwillalso be funded through grants from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and MGI.
This table outlines how some other cities are defining and funding their pilot programs:
City
ARPA Funds?
Implementing partner
Pilot details
Comments / Source link
Minneapolis, MN
Yes - $3,000,000
TBD external partner
200 participants, $500/mo, 24 months, <50% city median income, priority to housing insecurity
“The Program Administrator would be an external partner. The Referral Partners could be a combination of internal and external partners providing housing stability and job training/placement services.”
https://www.minneapolismn.gov/news/2021/july/council-adopts-spending-plan-for-federal-funds/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-12/minneapolis-basic-income-test-taps-covid-funds
Alexandria, VA
Yes – $3,000,000
ACT for Alexandria
150 participants, $500/mo, 24 months,
Low-income/ALICE
https://www.actforalexandria.org/initiatives/t/guaranteed-basic-income-pilot-program/#
Long Beach, CA
Yes - $2,000,000
TBD non-profit administrator
500 participants, $500/mo, 12 months, Single-parent HH below poverty line in90813 zip code
“3rd Party Administrator: All guaranteed income programs studied by the Working Group were administered by a 3rd party nonprofit administrator responsible for participant support, payment processing, reporting, and other activities.”
Also providing free childcare, transportation support, and workforce training
Evanston, IL
Yes - $700,000
Northwestern Good Neighbor Racial Equity Fund
165 participants, $500/mo, 12 months,
Disengaged youths (18-24), senior citizens & undocumented residents
Austin, TX
No –
$1,138,000 City (funding source: revised sales tax projections) & $1,138,000 Private
UpTogether(formerly FII)
Current: 125 participants, $1,000/mo, 12 months
Expanded: TBD -> likely 100 participants, $1,000/mo, 12 months,
most vulnerable residents
There is a privately-funded pilot currently being run byUpTogether. On 8/11/21, Austin City Council approved additional city funding to expand that pilot, program details TBD.
http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/26-20210806164834.pdf
Richmond, VA
Richmond Resilience Initiative
CARES Act ($240,000) & philanthropic
Family Independence Initiative (UpTogether)
18 participants, $500/mo, 24 months
Low-income
* extending to 37 more families
Cook County, IL
CARES Act
Family Independence Initiative (UpTogether)
$600 one-time payments to 10,000 residents
One-time payment
https://www.cookcountyil.gov/sites/default/files/faqs-final_resident_cash_assistance_program.pdf
Santa Fe, NM
TBD
Santa Fe Community College Foundation
100 participants, $400/mo, 12 months
Santa Fe Community College students who are parents, have financial stress
Durham, NC
No – but does use City funding
StepUp Durham
115 participants, $500/mo, 12 months,
Formerly incarcerated individuals
Stockton, CA – SEED
No
Economic Security Project
$500/month, 24 months
Tacoma, WA
GRIT Demonstration
No
United Way Pierce County
110 participants, $500/mo, 12 months,
Low-income/ALICE
https://www.uwpc.org/guaranteed-income-initiative-growing-resilience-tacoma-grit
Denver, CO
Denver Basic Income Project
No
Impact Charitable, hosting Denver Basic Income Fund
260 receive $6,500 up front+$500/mofor 11 months; 260 receive $1,000/mofor 12 months
Homeless individuals
https://denverfoundation.org/2021/07/community-led-solutions-the-denver-basic-income-project/
Compton, CA
Compton Pledge
No
Fund 4 Guaranteed Income; Jain Family Institute
800 families, $300-600/mo, 2 years
Low-income
https://comptonpledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Compton-Pledge-Factsheet_Final_3.pdf
https://comptonpledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/April-13-Press-Release.pdf
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge RISE (Recurring Income for Success and Empowerment)
No
Cambridge Community Foundation
130 participants, $500/mo, 18 months
Single caretaker households <80% AMI
San Diego, CA
Resilient Communities for Every Child
No
San Diego for Every Child
150 families, $500/mo, 24 months, target ZIP codes with high rates of child poverty
Columbia, SC
Columbia Life Improvement Monetary Boost (CLIMB)
No
Central Carolina Community Foundation
100 participants, $500/mo, 12 months
Fathers involved in Midlands Fatherhood Coalition
Oakland, CA
No
UpTogether(previously Family Independence Initiative)
300 participants east Oakland (+300 citywide phase 2), $500/mo, 18 months
Income <50% AMI, at least one child, prioritize BIPOC
Madison, WI
No
Give Back Foundation; TASC
TBD: likely 125 participants, $500/mo, 12 months, families w/children but “relatively broad”
https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-cities-look-basic-income-close-racial-other-wealth-gaps
Providence, RI
Providence GI Pilot
No
Amos House
110 participants, $500/mo, 12 months,
<200% poverty level
https://www.providenceri.gov/mayor-elorza-launches-providence-guaranteed-income-pilot/
AcePGHwill beapilot programthat will be measured and studiedwith the assistance of MGI and the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research. The 200 participantsmust be 18 of older andwill berecruited in two groups:
Participants will receive a monthly payment of $500 on a debit card to spend on what they or their families needfor 24 months. Findings from other pilots show participants most frequently use cash to meet their basic needs like food, merchandise/wholesale and utilities.
