Should people with low incomes get cash payments from the city? Tacoma to explore it
Residents facing poverty in Tacoma might soon be able to seek help from the city in the form of a cash payment.
A $100,000 grant in partnership with the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) and United Way of Pierce County will pave the way for further exploration of guaranteed income in Tacoma.
Tacoma City Council approved the grant on Tuesday. Woodards is one of the founding members of MGI and recused herself from the vote.
The grant funding can be used Dec. 8 through Dec. 31, 2021. While the term of the grant don’t bind Tacoma to create a guaranteed income pilot, city officials and community leaders have been exploring since the summer what it would take to launch one.
Guaranteed income is a monthly cash payment given directly to individuals, with no strings attached, to use for various expenses. Guaranteed income is meant to supplement, rather than replace, the existing social safety net, according to MGI.
City Council member Kristina Walker said at the Dec. 1 meeting that the pilot is a tool for advancing equity in the face of racial and gender wealth gaps.
“It has the potential to be life changing for participants,” Walker said.
Prior to the pandemic, nearly 40 percent of Americans were unable to afford a single $400 emergency, according to a Federal Reserve study released in 2019. Additionally, the median white worker made 28 percent more than the typical Black worker and more than 35 more than the median Latino worker, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
United Way leaders have expressed interest in using guaranteed income to help families with children age 3 and younger, according to city staff. The guaranteed income program could also benefit ALICE families. ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — in other words, households that earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, but less than the basic cost of living. United Way data from 2016 shows 31 percent of households in Pierce County are considered ALICE.
“United Way of Pierce County supports the Mayor’s Guaranteed Income initiative. We believe in providing a guaranteed income to help struggling families as a powerful way to reduce poverty, and it is perfectly aligned with our goal of lifting 15K families out of poverty by 2028,” Dona Ponepinto, President and CEO of United Way of Pierce County, said in a statement to The News Tribune on Wednesday.
“One of our greatest strengths of (United Way) is our ability to convene and collaborate with other organizations to improve the human service systems. We are thrilled to be a part of this pilot and partner with the City of Tacoma, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, Sound Outreach, Tacoma Pierce County Housing Authority and the Tacoma Urban League.”
In the Tacoma area, the unemployment rate skyrocketed in April, from 4.9 percent to 18.7 percent following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Bureau for Labor Statistics. That rate has since trickled down to 8.6 percent, with 38,096 people unemployed, according preliminary BLS data for September.
MGI was started by Stockton, California Mayor Michael Tubbs, who launched a guaranteed income pilot program last year. Early data from the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, which provides individuals $500 per month for two years, showed that 40 percent of the funding was spent on food. The program was funded by local philanthropists and private sector donations.
“During this time of economic hardship for so many, a guarantee income program could provide immediate assistance to Tacoma families in need while gathering real-time data about a potential tool that could address poverty in an innovative, comprehensive way at the federal level going forward,” Woodards said in a statement on Tuesday.
