There are 3,000 families in LA who are living in poverty and have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic who will receive $1,000 no-strings-attached direct cash payments as a result of the BIG:LEAP program. “When something goes wrong, when they have a crisis, they are immediately plunged into debt and they are forced to make impossible choices.” That is something that unfortunately a great many Americans do not have,” Gay said. “There are a lot of issues that arise when people don’t have a safety net. Writer Roxane Gay teamed up with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income for an essay contest about guaranteed incomeĪs the idea of guaranteed basic income policies gain more traction, writer Roxane Gay spoke to Alex Cohen about why she supports it.The program expands the initial $6 million to a nearly $40 million investment.Councilmember Curren Price proposed the BIG:LEAP program, which stands for Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot.LA City Council unanimously approved what will be the largest basic income pilot program in the United States.
