David came to this country as a Dreamer at the age of 14 – crossing the border with his sister on his back, as they escaped political turmoil in their native Guatemala. David and his family settled in Southern California, where his mother worked as a janitor, and his father, a carpenter. He learned English in public schools, before earning scholarships to Stanford and Harvard law. As a young man, he came out to his family and friends, and he is now married to his husband of 20 years.
Do you want to lower crime? Reduce the level of homelessness? Lower the poverty rate?
I do. That’s why I am a strong supporter of a Guaranteed Basic Income that would target a minimum payment of $1,000 per month to all low-income Californians to make sure they have a basic safety net.
This is no longer some wild idea. It has been tested in numerous states and cities – and the results are clear, this kind of minimum investment more than pays for itself.
By making sure low-income families have just a basic cushion they can use to make the rent – we will lower the rate of homelessness.
By making sure people have the few dollars it takes to print a resume, buy some interview cloths, fix their car so they can make it to an interview – we actually increase the level of employment (that’s what happened in Stockton when this was tested).
By reducing the driver of economic crimes – we will reduce our crime rate. (That’s what happened in Alaska with their form of a universal distribution of state oil revenues, crime went down when the disbursements went up).
This works – and it saves money in the long run. Because the rigorous science now backing Guaranteed Basic Income plans show it is actually much less expensive to lift people out of poverty than to pay to treat the many symptoms of poverty – from crime, to poor educational outcomes to homelessness.
Most Californians, working and not working, are worried about making sure their tax dollars are spent well. That’s why this is such an important moment to move Guaranteed Basic Income forward – it saves money while improving the lives of millions of Californians.