Three Philadelphia state lawmakers said they plan to introduce legislation to require a state agency to conduct a study and report on the effectiveness of universal basic income program in Pennsylvania.
Democratic state Reps. Ben Waxman, Morgan Cephas and Chris Rabb signed on co-sponsorship note seeking legislative support for a bill that would require the Department of Human Services to conduct a study that would also lend a hand state officials determine which municipalities will be best prepared to implement a UBI program.
The idea of a universal basic income is not modernbut in recent years it has continued to attract interest worldwide, with countries such as Finlandand United Kingdomconducting tests.
In 2020, Democratic state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler of Philadelphia and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee of the 12th District, then a member of the state House of Representatives from Allegheny County, also sought support for a similar proposal.
UBI was also a topic of the presidential campaign, in which the then-Democrat candidate for president Andrew Yang endorsing the concept during his 2020 campaign for the Oval Office.
The concept of UBI has gained increased attention amid uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, which proponents cite as an example of the need to explore UBI further.
In 2021, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, the mayor’s guaranteed income initiative, tested the effects of UBI by providing 125 participants with an income of $500 per month for two years.
This The SEED study showed that recipients were healthier, more financially stable and more willing to set goals and take risks as a result of the UBI program, but noted that the “exorbitant” costs of necessities such as childcare, medical care and housing continued to be a source of hardship and stress for many.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a comprehensive reform of the social safety net,” the study concluded.
To date, many cities and municipalities across the country have continued to launch, test and implement UBI programs, Chicago, Atlanta, Oakland, Phoenix, Denver AND Baltimore among them.
As lawmakers wrote, the study will be a “crucial first step” in understanding how a universal basic income pilot program could be implemented in Pennsylvania.”
