If you reside in Chicago or Los Angeles you may be able to join the city universal basic income pilot programs.
If so, applications open October 29, 2021.
LA will offer $1,000 to 3200 families every month and Chicago will send out $500 to 5,000 families, Fox Business reported. The programs will cost $40 million and $31.5 million.
For those who apply in Chicago, a random selection will determine who will receive the funds. However, an applicant must earn under $35,000 a year to qualify.
“There are still millions of low-skilled jobs out there, and you have small business owners who can’t find workers to join their companies,” said Michael Faulkender, who served as an assistant treasury secretary for economic policy during the Trump administration.
Stockton, California was the first to launch a program of this kind and offered monthly stipends to 125 of its residents two years ago. Michael Tubbs, who was the mayor at the time, said a third of the funds were spent on food.
About 40 other cities have also considered launching a UBI program. Among the list is Denver, Newark, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and New Orleans.
Mayors would like to use some of the coronavirus stimulus packages to help fund the programs and their payments. However, critics of UBI programs say they create a false sense of the program’s success.
Critics believe the only way to keep the programs going past 2024 is to increase taxes on city residents.
After a year, cities will assess the success of the programs and see what the next steps are.
