A year after Stockton introduced its basic income program, two dozen other cities are looking to follow suit, the Associated Press reports.
“At a moment of racial injustice, we see this as a way forward,” said L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has vowed to launch a similar program through a mix of public and private money.
Other cities pursuing universal income initiatives include Hudson, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Mount Vernon, New York; Tacoma, Washington; Paterson, New Jersey; and Long Beach, San Francisco, and Oakland, California.
Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, sees these programs as disturbing, not innovative.
“Socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money,” Coupal told the Associated Press. “The concept of universal minimum income is foolish. It disincentivizes work and that is socially destructive.”