Friday Politics Roundup | Amy Knect is back to talk Philly’s guaranteed income program, UBI, and Pennridge School Board meeting

On this week's Friday Politics Roundup,  I welcome guest host, Amy Knect, back to the show. On today's show, we're be digging into the great Universal Basic Income (UBI) debate and check in on the latest school board meeting in the Pennridge School District. Yes, the school board carrying out a right-wing extremist experiment in undermining public education.

Earlier this year, Philadelphia announced that it will begin a very limited guaranteed income pilot program as soon as this month. The pilot program would give a maximum of 60 people $500/month for at least 12 months. The 60 people are drawn from a pool of about 1,100 who have received federal support through TANF, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, for five years. The funds will come without any strings attached, unlike traditional social welfare programs. Philly now joins a growing list of U.S. and cities around the world piloting programs to give people money as a way to provide an economic floor for individuals and families. 

UBI is not just one thing. They range from libertarian proposals - to give people money and wipe out other social welfare programs such as TANF, Medicaid, and Social Security - to more democratic socialist programs - to give people money as a baseline for being part of a given society while maintaining or expanding existing programs (think Medicare for All). 

We'll take a look at some of the preliminary results of Stockton, California's UBI experiment - the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) to see what $500/month did for 125 individuals in that pilot. We'll also talk about the report, "Becoming Visible: Race, Economic Security, and Political Voice in Jackson, Mississippi." That report investigates " how policies created through racial exclusion and oppression are maintained behind a veneer of race-neutrality, and to reject reform efforts that tinker at the margins of this system."

We'll also be checking in with the Pennridge School District school board meeting this past Monday. We're starting to see an organized pushback in the community to the board's thinly-veiled extremism. Amy Knecht was there for the meeting. Looking forward to this one!

• Magnolia Mother’s Trust: https://springboardto.org/magnolia-mothers-trust/
• Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED): https://www.stocktondemonstration.org/
• Policy Paper: “Becoming Visible: Race, Economic Security, and Political Voice in Jackson, Mississippi,” https://bit.ly/34eEEu1
• Center for Guaranteed Income Research, UPenn: https://www.penncgir.org/

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