Los Angeles County approved a measure establishing a pilot program that will give some impoverished residents guaranteed monthly income support.
The county’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to create the countywide “Guaranteed Income Program,” which will pay up to 1,000 residents $1,000 per month for three years.
Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Sheila Kuehl, who co-authored the proposal, argued in their motion that COVID-19 worsened inequality and that the county must to do more to address poverty and income disparities.
DEMOCRATIC MAYORS LAUNCH PILOT PROGRAM TO IMPLEMENT UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
In passing the motion, the board declared “that poverty and economic opportunity is a matter of public health in Los Angeles County and that economic inequity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our county’s public health,” the results of which are “large disparities in family stability, economic stability, health and mental wellness, education, employment, public safety, criminal justice and housing.”
The measure directs the county CEO to create an implementation plan for the income pilot within 60 days. Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn, along with Mitchell and Kuehl, supported the motion.
Solis introduced her own motion, which also passed 4-1 on Tuesday, to direct the county’s Department of Public Social Services to report back to the board in 60 days with “a comprehensive roadmap to implement a Guaranteed Basic Income program” and to develop income pilots for residents such as transition-aged youth and the formerly incarcerated “regardless of income status.”
“The high cost of living in Los Angeles County makes it extremely difficult for low-income individuals and families to make ends meet, and particularly challenging for those receiving public assistance,” Solis said in the motion.
“Unrestricted payments are the simplest yet most powerful way to provide immediate help to struggling County residents during these uncertain times,” she added later.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the lone dissenting vote on both proposals, said in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner that the motions are “vague” and “lack fraud prevention efforts.”
“Implementation of ‘Guaranteed Basic Income’ has yet to be fully researched and vetted in a jurisdiction comparable to ours,” Barger said. “As the largest county in the nation, we should be more diligent, thoughtful and strategic before we implement a program of this nature.”
“These motions do not include any programs to expand future self-sufficiency through workforce training or educational attainment and they do not target our foster youth population as the only eligible recipients for these measures,” she added.
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Los Angeles County’s pilot follows a similar program administered by the city of Stockton, California, which started giving 125 residents $500 per month for two years beginning in 2019.
