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Mayor Garcia Asks Council to Direct City Att'y To Write A Guaranteed Income Resolution And Mgm't To Seek Grant Funding; Fiscal Impact Statement Admits Program Would Likely Mean Future Unquantified Taxpayer Costs



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(Aug. 26, 2020, 9:55 p.m.) -- After Tweeting in late June his desire to join a group of eleven U.S. Mayors (including the Mayors of L.A., Stockton and Atlanta) in supporting "a guaranteed income" ("universal basic income" or "UBI") (LBREPORT.com coverage here, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (who has no policy setting authority) has agendized a Sept. 1 City Council item asking Councilmembers to direct the City Attorney "to draft a Council resolution in support of the universal basic income initiative established by the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, as well as federal and state efforts to support residents disadvantaged by the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Garcia-agendized item asks the City Manager "to seek grants and private foundation support to fund the pilot and to bring back specific grant approval to City Council."

However in its Fiscal Impact section, the memo acknowledges likely future LB taxpayer costs. It acknowledges that developing the pilot program is expected "to require a moderate to significant impact on staff hours beyond normal budgeted scope of duties and is expected to have moderate to significant impact on existing City Council priorities, due to limited staff capacity impacted by things such as the pandemic response and other priority projects." It leaves those unquantified taxpayer costs to future management proposals and Council action. "Any additional fiscal impact, including impact on staff time and City Council priorities, of the implementing the Universal Basic Income program will need to be identified and brought back to City Council prior to Council action to proceed with any pilot program,"

Garcia's FY 21 budget recommendations also include spending $100,000 to hire an Economic Equity Specialist to address income inequality and explore public banking and universal basic income, to be funded from General Fund reserves.

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As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, Mayor Garcia may or may not be in Long Beach to deal with those future costs. Speculation swirls that if Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden is elected in November, his VP running mate Kamala Harris (whom Garcia supported for President) might propel Garcia into a Biden administration DC position. Another scenario speculates Governor Gavin Newsom might choose Garcia to fill the U.S. Senate seat that Harris would vacate.

In his agendizing memo (which he agendized solely in his name) Mayor Garcia writes in pertinent part:

People are suffering tremendously during this pandemic, and many were suffering before as well. Universal Basic Income, or a guaranteed income, is being piloted in cities across the United States, and is part of the Mayor's FY 21 Budget recommendations. It's an innovative approach to supporting people in a rapidly changing economy.

Ongoing direct payments to individuals and families would help to start to address the inequalities being experienced across the country. It would provide immediate relief to the recipients and help stimulate the economy. Long Beach would greatly benefit from these direct payments to all residents, and it would help those most in need.

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In terms of Fiscal Impact, Mayor Garcia says "The Mayor's recommendations for the Proposed FY 21 Budget also include a proposed $100,000 to hire an Economic Equity Specialist to address income inequality and explore public banking and universal basic income, to be funded from General Fund reserves. Developing a Universal Basic Income pilot program is anticipated to require a moderate to significant impact on staff hours beyond normal budgeted scope of duties and is expected to have moderate to significant impact on existing City Council priorities, due to limited staff capacity impacted by things such as the pandemic response and other priority projects. Any additional fiscal impact, including impact on staff time and City Council priorities, of the implementing the Universal Basic Income program will need to be identified and brought back to City Council prior to Council action to proceed with any pilot program.

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