CA Tests Basic Income For Some Residents In These Cities

CALIFORNIA — As California continues to pilot some basic income programs, two California cities — Palm Springs and West Hollywood — have launched programs aimed at dismantling disparities felt by transgender and non-binary communities.

In Palm Springs, city council members unanimously voted to fund two organizations, DAP Health and Queer Works, to create a program and apply for state funding.

The program would give out monthly payments of $600 to $900 to 20 participants who identify as transgender or nonbinary. Another 20 participants will be part of a control group that would not recieve funding and instead receive social services.

"Such a program to help people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer community is unbelievably part of the values of Palm Springs, hands down," Councilman Dennis Woods said, adding that he was apprehensive about approving more than $200,000.

"We have so many priorities going that I just am not sure we can commit to developing a guaranteed income program long term."

In West Hollywood, a pilot program for guaranteed income began on April 1, and will provide cash to low-income West Hollywood residents over 50 years old who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex or Asexual.

Some 43 percent of West Hollywood's 36,723 residents identify as LGBT, according to the program.

Applications were open to those who have an annual household income equal or less than the metropolitan area of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Glendale as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the National Council of Jewish Women.

The program randomly selected 25 adults out of the eligible applicants. Participants will receive an unconditional supplemental income of $1,000 per month for 18 months.

Similarly, but not limited to the LGPTQ+ community, Los Angeles County launched "Breathe: LA County's Guaranteed Income Program" last week.

To be eligible, residents must live in a household with an income below the county median in a neighborhood where other households also earn less than the county median. The application period closes April 13 and 1,000 applicants will be selected at random.

"The financial uncertainty and varying depths of poverty that millions of our constituents experience day to day cannot be addressed with a one-size-fits-all approach. Now is our opportunity to invest in support that directly reaches our residents," Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Holly Mitchell said previously.

Here is a list of other basic income pilot programs across California

1. SEED - Stockton

• $500 every month for two years

2. Compton Pledge - Compton

• $1,800 every three months for two years.

3. Oakland Resilient Families - Oakland

• $500 per month for 18 months.

4. Direct Investment Program - Sacramento

• $300 per month for 24 months.

5. Basic Income Pilot - Santa Clara County

• Up to $1,000 per month.

6. Guaranteed Income Program - South San Francisco

• $500 per month.

7. Marin County Foundation - Marin County

• $1,00 per month.

8. Elevate MV - Mountain View

• $500 per month.

READ MORE: Palm Springs OKs Income Program For Transgender, Non-Binary Residents

Organizations and communities that launch guaranteed income pilot programs are eligible to apply for state funding. California lawmakers last year approved the first state-funded guaranteed income plan in the nation, allocating a pool of $35 million for organizations to apply for.

The state Department of Social Services can direct who gets funding and legislators left it up to local officials to determine the size of monthly payments.

Many basic income initiative are meant to serve as an alternative to government assistance programs. Such services were "very prescriptive about doling out social services,” said state Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, according to CalMatters. "It really had a mentality of ‘we know what’s best for you weaker, poorer people.'"

READ MORE: Hollywood Residents Eligible For $1,000 Monthly Guaranteed Income

Cortese launched Santa Clara County’s income program for foster youth as a county supervisor.

The programs come as a spate of anti-transgender legislation crops up across the nation.

Last month, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, directed the state's child welfare agency to investigate and classify reports of gender-confirming care for kids as abuse.

Several bills, in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama and more, target transgender athletes and which teams or groups they can be assigned, according to a report from Freedom For All Americans.

“They are just weaponizing the fact that most everyday Americans don’t yet realize that they know someone who is transgender,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, according to the Los Angeles Times. “It is easy to fall for a myth about a group of people you don’t know, and that’s just human. ... It’s just really unfortunate to now see a group of politicians try to use that to their own advantage.”

Nationally, LGBT and transgender people have higher rates of poverty than other communities. According to a 2019 report from the Williams Institute at UCLA, 29.4 percent of transgender and LGBT people live in poverty in the U.S.