From: Jennifer Rakowski
To: City Clerk; Manager Manager; Tony Daysog; Trish Spencer; Eric Fonstein; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Malia Vella; Tracy Jensen; Walker Toma
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Item 6-A; Support for Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Financial Partner Contract Date: Wednesday, July 5, 2023 1:17:14 PM
Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
Vice Mayor Tony Daysog
Council Member Tracy Jensen
Council Member Trish Herrera Spencer
Council Member Malia Vella
Re: July 5, 2023 Council Meeting - Item 6-A; Support for Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Financial Partner Contract
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
I am writing to strongly support Council action to authorize the agreement with Usio Inc. to serve as the Financial Partner for the City’s Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) Pilot Program (Rise Up Alameda).
Rise Up Alameda has the potential to uplift individuals and families out of financial insecurity. By providing a consistent and reliable cash flow, it empowers recipients to meet their basic needs, access education and healthcare, and improve their overall quality of life. This program would offer a much-needed safety net for vulnerable community members, promoting social equality and helping to bridge the wealth gap.
Furthermore, a Guaranteed Income Program has proven to stimulate local economies.
When individuals have increased purchasing power, they tend to spend money within their local communities, supporting small businesses and creating a multiplier effect.
This, in turn, boosts economic growth and job opportunities, ultimately benefiting everyone in the city.
In addition to the direct economic impact, implementing such a program offers administrative benefits. With a streamlined process for distributing funds, the bureaucratic burden is reduced, allowing for more efficient allocation of resources. By eliminating complex eligibility criteria and minimizing paperwork, the attention can instead be focused on monitoring and evaluating the program's effectiveness, ensuring that the funds are being utilized appropriately. This fits with White House initiatives to reduce administrative burdens and promote equity.
Operation Dignity and Abt Associates are excellent partners for program implementation and research. In continuing to move this program forward, the Council has the opportunity to position Alameda as a national leader in providing economic stability for all, and emerging from the pandemic as a stronger, more equitable city.
Staff has done an exemplary job securing waivers from other public assistance programs to ensure that funding recipients aren’t inadvertently penalized for participating. They have also put the tools and partners in place for outreach and research to ensure the program is successful and that this success can be quantified and analyzed for continuous improvement and demonstration of value. In selecting Usio, Inc. as the financial partner for the program, staff has secured another cost-effective partner for the City. Usio’s fee is less than $3,000, allowing the vast majority of the contract value - $3.6 million - to flow directly to Alameda residents.
I commend Council’s leadership in moving forward with this transformative program. I support approval of the Usio contract as the final piece to get funds flowing to residents.
By alleviating poverty, empowering individuals, stimulating local economies, and streamlining administrative processes, Rise Up Alameda holds great promise for our city and its residents.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Rakowski
Cc:
Lara Weisiger, City Clerk
Jen Ott, City Manager
Walker Toma, Development Manager
Eric Fonstein, Development Manager
From: Transform Alameda
To: Tony Daysog; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Malia Vella; Trish Spencer; Tracy Jensen Cc: Lara Weisiger; Walker Toma; Eric Fonstein; [email protected] Subject: [EXTERNAL] Correspondence re: July 5 Council Meeting Item 6-A Date: Friday, June 30, 2023 10:05:37 PM
Attachments: TA GBI Support Letter - July 2023.pdf
Dear Honorable Mayor, and City Council Members,
Attached please find a letter from Transform Alameda in support of Item 6-A on the July 5th City Council Meeting agenda - Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Agreement with Usio Inc. to Serve as the Financial Partner for the City of Alameda’s Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program (Rise Up Alameda) in the Amount of $2,987.50 for Disbursement Services and Passthrough Funds of $3,600,000 to Be Used for Direct Payments to Program Participants for a Total of $3,602,987.50 with Funding from American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Funds.
Thank you,
Jackie Zipkin on behalf of Transform Alameda
Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
Vice Mayor Tony Daysog
Council Member Tracy Jensen
Council Member Trish Herrera Spencer
Council Member Malia Vella
Re: July 5, 2023 Council Meeting - Item 6-A; Support for Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Financial Partner Contract
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council Members:
Transform Alameda is a coalition of Alameda residents working together with our community to build a racially just future through local education, policy work, and action.
We are writing to strongly support Council action to authorize the agreement with Usio Inc. to serve as the Financial Partner for the City’s Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) Pilot Program (Rise Up Alameda).
Income inequality and disproportionate access to basic services are a nationwide issues, and in the high cost-of-living Bay Area, the challenges are often more acute.
According to the Family Needs Calculator , a family of four in Alameda County needs to make over $120,000 just to meet basic needs. COVID-19 exacerbated economic and racial inequality. One of the best investments the City can make is in our residents.
Staff’s proposed GBI Pilot Program would do just that by providing lower-income Alamedans with the financial stability they need as they emerge from the economic devastation of the pandemic. A GBI Program also provides an opportunity to begin to repair the wrongs of systemic racism that has created and perpetuated inequality along racial lines in our community for decades.
Research shows that GBI
● Raises earnings;
● Reduces health risks like low birth weight, HIV infection, psychological distress, and malnutrition;
● Increases schooling and decreases child labor;
● Doesn’t affect spending on alcohol and tobacco;
● Improves family cohesion by raising the time mothers spend with children and reducing risk of new parents breaking up; and
● Lengthens life expectancy.
Since the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) by Congress, Transform Alameda has advocated for the City to use these once-in-a-generation funds to develop a GBI Pilot Program, and we commend Council for its vision to date in approving contracts with Operation Dignity and Abt Associates for program implementation and research . In continuing to move this program forward, the Council has the opportunity to position Alameda as a national leader in providing economic stability for all, and emerging from the pandemic as a stronger, more equitable city.
Staff has done an exemplary job securing waivers from other public assistance programs to ensure that funding recipients aren’t inadvertently penalized for participating. They have also put the tools and partners in place for outreach and research to ensure the program is successful and that this success can be quantified and analyzed for continuous improvement and demonstration of value. In selecting Usio, Inc. as the financial partner for the program, staff has secured another cost-effective partner for the City. Usio’s fee is less than $3,000, allowing the vast majority of the contract value - $3.6 million - to flow directly to Alameda residents.
In closing, Transform Alameda commends staff and Council’s leadership in moving forward with this transformative program. We support approval of the Usio contract as the last puzzle piece to get funds flowing to residents, and we stand ready to assist in publicizing the program.
Sincerely,
Transform Alameda
Cc: Lara Weisiger, City Clerk
Walker Toma, Development Manager
Eric Fonstein, Development Manager