Economy
Austin become first Texas city to approve pilot ‘Guaranteed Income Program’
Austin, Texas has approved a pilot ‘Guaranteed Income’ program joining other liberal cities. The program will give 85 families $1,000 per month for an entire year. The program’s $1.18 million in funding will be handled by a nonprofit and recipients can spend the money however they wish.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who belongs to a coalition called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, said it will prevent homelessness; it’s not a “giveaway” but rather, “it is investing in ourselves.”
“We can find people moments before they end up on our streets and prevent them, divert them from being there. That would be not only wonderful for them, it would be wise and smart for the taxpayers in the city of Austin because it will be a lot less expensive to divert someone from homelessness than to help them find a home once they’re on our streets,” said Adler.
Atlanta, Georgia also announced it was launching a similar pilot basic income program in January. 300 residents will receive $500 each month for a year. NBC DFW5 reports that “Across the country, dozens of cities and counties — some using money from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package approved in March 2021 — are giving some low-income residents a guaranteed income of $500 to $1,000 each month to do with as they please, and tracking what happens.”
The Mayors coalition will use its data –collected by a University of Pennsylvania-based rrsearch center — to lobby the White House and Congress for a federal guaranteed income.
In the world of Democrat delusion, they think $5 billion is necessary, at this point in time, to make bike paths and widen side walks. You cannot make this up. They have approved $40 billion in aide to Ukraine in a heartbeat under President Biden, while having rejected former President Trump’s request for a mere $5 billion to secure our border.
The news also comes as fentanyl and the drug overdoses are the number one cause of death in the U.S. There’s also an increase in human smuggling and extortion to pay to cross the border. But no; let’s make some bike paths and widen sidewalks. That is an immediate emergency.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Monday that money will be used over five years under his department’s new “Safe Streets & Roads for All” program. The $5 billion ini federals funds will be used “to slow down cars chia more speed cameras, carve out bike paths and wider sidewalks and urging commuters to public transit” reports Daily Mail.
“The aim will be to provide a direct infusion of federal cash to communities that pledge to promote safety for the multiple users of a roadway, particularly pedestrians and bicyclists.” The announcement also coincides with the six-month anniversary of President Biden’s infrastructure legislation, and the beginning of the 2022 “infrastructure week.”
The desire to fix roads is a noble one, as “road traffic injuries also are the leading cause of death among young people aged 5-29. Young adults aged 15-4 account for more than half of all road deaths” reports Daily Mail, which adds:
Still, much of the federal roadmap relies on cooperation from cities and states, and it could take months if not years to fully implement with discernible results – too late to soothe 2022 midterm voters unsettled by this and other pandemic-related ills, such as rising crime.
The latest U.S. guidance Monday invites cities and localities to sketch out safety plans in their applications for the federal grants, which are to be awarded late this year.
It cites examples of good projects as those that promise to transform a high-crash roadway, such as by adding rumble strips to slow cars or installing speed cameras, which the department says could provide more equitable enforcement than police traffic stops; flashing beacons for pedestrian crosswalks; new ‘safe routes’ via sidewalks or other protected pathways to school or public transit in underserved communities; and other ‘quick build’ roadway changes designed with community input.
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