It's just basic income

Our founding fathers would be so proud.

After months of planning, Stockton is sending debit cards loaded with $500 to a select group of residents starting Friday as part of a closely watched experiment in universal basic income, the first led by a U.S. city.

Stockton, once dubbed “America’s foreclosure capital,” was the largest city to seek bankruptcyprotection before Detroit’s 2013 filing. During the recession, unemployment soared toward 20 percent, and violent crime rose. Today, one in four residents lives below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Now, as the city slowly recovers from financial disarray, officials and advocates look to the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED, to provide insight on whether a long-term basic income program is a viable creative approach to lifting residents out of poverty. 

“The need has only been reiterated” in the last few weeks of preparation, SEED 

director Sukhi Samra said. “Folks are ready to use this money to pay bills, to save for the future, to pay off debt and pay for medicine.”

Will be paid for with future tax increases. Participants have to swear loyalty to the Democratic party. 

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article226280230.html#storylink=cpy