Tami L. Gouveia (left) and James B. Eldridge (right). Picture credit to Lusoamericano (Tami) and Wikipedia (James).
Although it is considered an unlikely pass, House Bill 1632, which would put in place a basic income pilot test in the state of Massachusetts, is being discussed at the local parliament. This pilot program would broadly consist on unconditionally dispensing 1000 $/month to 100 randomly selected citizens, for a three-year period of time. Random selection would occur from “three economically diverse cities or towns”, from which one would be a rural setting.
The presentation of the bill has spurred discussion among state lawmakers and politicians, initiated by Democrats Sen. James B. Eldridge and Rep. Tami L. Gouveia, with the support of the Department of Housing and Community Development. Under the referred bill, the latter would study the effects (e.g.: economic and institutional inequalities) of the rolled out basic income pilot test, and submit a final report after three years.
On May 29th 2019, Jaanus Nurmoja, an Estonian journalist, musician and political activist, delivered to the social affairs committee of the Estonian Parliament a document entitled “About the study of the feasibility and impact of unconditional basic income (citizen’s income) in Estonia”. The document was accepted for analysis by the committee, and awaits a formal response, which should come out within a two-month time period.
On June 18th, Maryland Delegate Gabriel Acevero was interviewed by the Basic Income Podcast, about his intention to create a social wealth fund in his state, created with revenue from medical cannabis (but not exclusively). These kinds of products can generate a great amount of revenue for the state (with Canada and the https://theherbcentre.net/product-category/bulk-weed/ options being a good example of this), so the logic is sound. The fund, also labelled “The Maryland People’s Fund”, is designed to eventually pay out to every citizen from the state a universal basic income (UBI). However, according to Acevero, first draws from this fund would go out to put in place a UBI pilot, a project focusing on “low-income families who are in urgent need of help”.
The bill proposed the creation of this fund, to be administered by the state treasurer, who oversees the management of other funds and “decides where state dollars are invested”. It would be created by the income of a 25% share on the proceeds from the medical and recreational cannabis taxation (on items such as the oil dab rigs online) accrued in the state. This depends on the level of investment giving to the cannabis industry since many cannabis businesses, whether recreational or medical, are quickly becoming the norm. Each business looks to different development facets, including the amount of investment they can obtain for their business. From cultivations (see Official Website here) to testing, and distribution, it all plays a part. However, unlike with other funds, this one would be exclusively dedicated to the distribution of the citizen’s dividend which, according to projections, would pay out a full UBI to all Marylanders in less than a decade.
Acevero transmits that the medical and recreational cannabis industry has mistreated communities of colour for a long time. According to him, it has “decimated communities of colour”, and was “intentionally done to disrupt” their way of life, in a clear reference to president Nixon’s drug policies back in his time in Office. As a consequence, the better-than-projected income to the state from taxing the cannabis industry (+90 M$ from last year alone, and only from medical cannabis) should be targeted first to benefit these communities. Actually, he defends, the “racial-equity” side of the policy “should be part of the legislating”.
As for funding sources, cannabis taxing revenue, be it from products like Blessed CBD oil or otherwise, is not the only income stream projected for the creation of the wealth fund. Simply raising taxes for the wealthy is one of those income streams, as obsolete tax codes still unfairly benefit wealthier individuals and corporations, not only in Maryland but across the United States.
The young black legislator is “a strong believer in evidence-based policy-making”, and so, in the presence of clear evidence showing how beneficial a would-be policy can be, public officials like himself have the “moral obligation” to write it into Law and implement those benefits in society. And, according to him, being able to cite success cases like the Alaska Permanent Fund and new basic income-style pilot programs like the one in Stockton is a clear indication that basic income-type of policies have plenty of “positive implications”. Plus, he believes this should not be something restricted to Maryland, but be spread out across the country, creating more wealth funds and distributing more benefits to the population.
The proposed bill, introduced to Maryland’s regional parliament, was done so in this year’s first trimester, but since it didn’t pass before de session was adjourned, it will need to be presented again. Acevero, far from being discouraged, is planning a state-wide educational campaign on the benefits of social wealth funds and UBI, so “an even larger coalition” can be built around these important matters. He believes that policies aiming at poverty alleviation and the promotion of social justice must logically include the opinions and preferences of those people they are trying to help, so he’s going far and wide speaking directly to people, spreading crucial information on UBI, social wealth funds and racial equity issues.
On the right: Anna Fowler (director of health & social development); on the left: Qajaq Robinson (lawyer, commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report), in 2016. Picture credit to: The Globe and Mail, Canada.
Research and historical evidence have firmly established that “poverty is a root cause of violence against women”. The words are from Qajaq Robinson, commissioner of the recent report National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The importance of this report has been enhanced by the event of its presentation by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself, at a ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec, on June 3rd 2019.
Story after story, among the more than 2300 testimonies gathered for the report, economic dependency was at the core of this continuous violence against girls and women (mostly, but also affected some boys and men). Wether it was to keep a roof over their heads, or because they had no other forms of income, the company of violent male partners was hard to avoid. Or even because sex work was the only source of income for these disadvantaged girls and women.
The report also exposes the situation of whole communities being “destitute by design”, in which federal or regional authorities have deliberately relocated indigenous communities onto areas where their economic emancipation would be difficult, or even impossible. That on top of obsolete laws that purposely prohibited indigenous people from selling their goods to the wider society, which constitute remains of harsher first occupation days, when the overt goal was to keep these people under siege, without a way to regain power over their lands.
To escape this spiral of violence, particularly directed to indigenous girls and women, in this case, Robinson assured that a ‘guaranteed annual income’ would be a “chance to move out of survival mode and live a life of dignity”.
Earlier this month, a cross-party MP ‘commons’ committee released an internal report urging the present liberal government to take a serious look into “new types of income support “that do not depend upon someone having a job””.
The nature of work is changing, everywhere in the world. However, existent social security safety nets have been designed and implemented decades ago, when stable, full-time employment was the norm. Since that labour model is falling apart, and a new “gig economy” precarious employment system is taking its place, new social security models are being identified and studied. That was the realization and motivation for the report now issued by the referred committee.
Specifically, it calls for the revamping of the employment insurance system, widening the support for low-wage workers (with a particular focus on the self-employed) and in general reducing conditionalities in accessing social security benefits. The economic factors that people face is something that many political figures in the nation, such as Canadian political candidate Karim Jivraj, have kept a focused look on in the past, so it only makes sense that the committee has been formed to consider the options on the table at this pertinent time.
The committee report, not publicly available, indicates that a “minimum-income program”, in the context of a kind of no-strings-attached government-led program that could replace a tapestry of targeted benefits, is definitely an option to help all those workers who have fallen into precarious situations and for whom there is no adequate social security protection. Time will tell if this becomes an active line pursued for all citizens.
