Council green lights UBI program

Alameda Sun

At its Nov. 15 meeting, the City Council authorized the City Manager to execute two contracts to administer the Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) Pilot Program, which will distribute some of the city’s federally allocated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to selected low-income households.

In particular, 150 Alameda households will receive $1,000 per month over a two-year span. The decision to move forward with this program follows a May 2022 meeting in which the council voted 3-2 to approve the exploration of the GBI pilot (“City Council Approves Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program,” May 26; https://alamedasun.com/news/city-council-approves-guaranteed-basic-incom…).

City staff spent the months since learning about other GBI programs in cities like Oakland and Long Beach, as well as meeting with Bay Area communities of practice and community stakeholders to inform the program design.

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