PRESS RELEASE
Long Beach, CA 90802
Phone: (562) 570-6099
562.570.3678
Lucius.Martin@longbeach.gov
Acting Special Projects Officer
Long Beach, CA – Today, the City of Long Beach launched a new website for its upcoming Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, Long Beach Pledge, which will provide up to 250 Long Beach families living at or below the poverty line and residing in the 90813 zip code the opportunity to receive $500 a month for 12 months. The application for eligible residents is anticipated to launch sometime in November and will be publicly announced.
“We’re incredibly excited to start engaging with residents about the city’s guaranteed income program,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “This is an amazing opportunity to invest in our community and get critical assistance to some of those with the most need.”
The Long Beach Pledge will serve single headed families with children living at or below the poverty line in the 90813 zip code. More program details, including eligibility, are available on the Long Beach Pledge website at www.longbeachpledge.org. Long Beach residents interested in participating in the program or learning more should sign up for the newsletter to receive program updates and further details when available, which will include information about the official application period, commencement of payments and other key program milestones.
The Long Beach Pledge website also features a donation page where community members can help expand the pilot program by providing monetary donations. All donated dollars will go directly to payments to program participants, and support the program’s expansion, either by offering additional residents the opportunity to participate and/or increasing the duration of payments for participants. For any questions regarding donations, please contact info@f4gi.org.
To help facilitate aspects of the Long Beach Pledge, the City is partnering with Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI), a nonprofit organization which has built a custom platform to support guaranteed income programs for government, community organizations and program participants. F4GI will build and administer Long Beach Pledge’s payment and administrative platform, connect participants to additional supportive services and facilitate the disbursement of monthly payments to participants via four payment options.
“F4GI advances the evidence base around accessible welfare systems, develops the tools which can create them, and builds coalitions that will demand them. Following our launch of the Compton Pledge, it’s an honor to expand our Pledge across city lines, and eventually the nation,” said Nika Soon-Shiong, Founder and Executive Director of Fund for Guaranteed Income and Director of the Compton Pledge, a guaranteed income program.
The 90813 zip code was identified by a Community Working Group that reviewed economic research and best practices from other municipalities and determined that the 90813 zip code had the highest need in terms of COVID-19 impact and poverty rates. Focusing direct payments in the area of the city with the highest concentration of poverty will allow for the greatest potential for community impact and will provide data that will contribute to guaranteed income research currently underway throughout the United States.
The recommendation to develop a universal basic income initiative was originally brought forth by Mayor Robert Garcia and approved by the entire City Council.
This program is made possible by the Long Beach Recovery Act, a plan to fund economic and public health initiatives for Long Beach residents, workers and businesses critically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of $51 million has been allocated to support Economic Recovery which includes $2 million for a Guaranteed Income program and its evaluation. Additional information about the Long Beach Recovery Act is available at longbeach.gov/recovery.