(The Center Square) – Following a national trend, Los Angeles and Los Angeles County have embraced the popular guaranteed income concept to combat poverty by offering low-income residents no-strings-attached money.
The city of Los Angeles offers a guaranteed income program to 3,200 participants chosen at random to receive $1,000 per month for 12 months. Los Angeles County has responded with two guaranteed programs of its own.
The county’s pilot guaranteed income program involves 1,000 participants who will receive $1,000 monthly payments for three years. The budget is $16.3 million, and the county will use federal COVID-19 relief money to pay for the program, according to Los Angeles County. The program began in August.
On Oct. 12, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis said the county was starting a second guaranteed income program for 300 people between the ages of 18 and 24 who are already receiving employment services through the county. Those 300 randomly selected youth will receive $1,000 a month in guaranteed income for 36 months, according to a news release.
Last year, the city of Los Angeles launched the largest guaranteed basic income program called BIG:LEAP. According to its website, this program provides “unconditional” $1,000 monthly payments to approximately 3,200 individuals for 12 months.
Curren Price Jr., a Los Angeles city council member, said the program will be “the largest guaranteed income economic assistance pilot program in our nation’s history.”
The program will cost the city almost $40 million.
The people targeted in the BIG:LEAP program must be 18 or older and living under the federal poverty line. They also must either be pregnant or have at least one child.
The initial data from this program was recently released in a report from the Mayors for Guaranteed Income, a group of mayors from around the nation promoting guaranteed income programs.
The data shows that 34.94% was spent on food and groceries, 34.23% on retail sales and services, and 11.91% on transportation.
According to another report, 80% of the participants are female, and 20% are male.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a member of Mayors for Guaranteed Income, said in a news release that the BIG:LEAP program “is a small but steady investment in a simple concept: When you provide resources to families that are struggling, it can give them the breathing room to realize goals that many of us are fortunate enough to take for granted.”
The trend toward guaranteed income programs goes far beyond Los Angeles, with Mayors for Guaranteed Income reporting that more than 44 cities have already implemented pilot programs.
The mayor’s office and the BIG:LEAP program did not respond to requests for comment.
Guaranteed income programs could work if they replace the network of other safety net social programs, according to some in academia. Antony Davies, an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University, previously told The Center Square that he was less enthusiastic about a guaranteed income approach to addressing poverty if it is just yet another government subsidy program. Davies said guaranteed income programs could be effective if they replace the bevy of other duplicative bureaucracies already in place in government social programs.
More Socialist Stupidity, needs to end. Vote those socialists out of office.
The cons, lies, hate, hypocrisy and treachery of this treasonous, socialist Democrat Party know no bounds.
This Treasonous, dishonest, destructive, Socialist Democrat Party’s objective is to deliberately lie, cheat and steal. To disregard the U.S. Constitution and our laws, in order to take total control of the American people by their restricting U.S. citizens their constitutional rights and freedoms. Stopping oil production, increase Taxes and the inflation cost of everything and bring American commerce and economy to its knees and to promote Socialism, enforced by their political DOJ and police gestapo the FBI and IRS.
Then access power and retain it by any means available –
No matter the costs to the people, the government or the nation.
This treasonous, hateful, destructive, immoral, socialist Democrat Party and their corrupt, demented puppet president has become our country’s most destructive and deadliest ENEMY!
Once people are dependent on any government for their existence, they are no linger free. They have become slaves, servants and wards of the government. You must obey and support your socialist government masters or become enemies of the state and will be delt with accordantly.
Sounds an awful lot like a Leftist vote buying scheme
EVERY FOREIGN Nation that already TRIED this stupidity, STOPPED after 18 months or so..
IT DOES NOT WORK.
One more reason to leave LA and Californication. And one more reason to NEVER visit LA or Californication again. Both were written off my list long time ago.
Guaranteed income of $1,000 plus welfare and food stamps and public housing and section 8. You know who only they will help ? Biden people the 13%. Why would they ever work ??
Next thing President Kennedy once said ” ask not what your country can do for you ,but what can you do for your country “. Boy has the demon rats changed. Kennedy was for democracy , Biden is for Socialism.
IF THEY GOT RID of the entire welfare system, and ONLY HAD THIS, i might be for it.
BUT when you add this on TOP OF ALL the rest, we are literally paying folks, to be lazy leeches… In some cases, a single parent of say 3 kids, what with EBT, WIC, Welfare, Section 8 (housing), Section 13 (Child care credits), and STATE PAID School funding to help them go to college, ON TOP OF THEIR FREE MEDICAL/DENTAL (via medicare/medicade), i’d have to earn 22$ OR MORE AN HOUR< to break Even with those folk…
Very expensive pandering; reminds me of what happened when the bears were fed at Yellowstone Park by tourists….
When the takers outnumber the producers, any nation is finished.
It’s getting closer and closer to that being the situation in this country. Where do they think that $1000.00 will go since there will be no strings attached. Lets see, now they will be able to buy more drugs and God only knows what else, but most likely very little towards food and clothing for them and their family. Of course they have WIC, food stamps , rent paid, and all the rest of what they want. This should get more people moving out of that screwed up socialist state. They’re tired of the Robin Hood tactics the politicians are using to keep buying votes. Of course they’re only doing what democrats are doing nation wide.
AS Margret Thatcher said. SOCIALISM Works, till you run out of everyone else’s money!
>> if they replace the bevy of other duplicative bureaucracies already in place in government social programs. <<
How many government (read "taxpayer-funded") handout programs have ever been cancelled?
SINCE THE Invention of them, due to the great depression.. NOT a single one.
Anybody else see some misuse and problems coming?