Our Petition

Whereas Guaranteed Income policies aim to ensure basic economic security and dignity for targeted individuals through direct cash payments, akin to a recurring stimulus program, Universal Basic Income (UBI) would provide payments to all regardless of income. Pilot programs in Washington DC are providing payments to several hundred residents on a time-limited basis;

Whereas the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated long-standing racial inequities in D.C.;

Whereas pre-pandemic, 1 in 4 Black DC residents lived in poverty: as did 13% of Latinx residents and 6.4 % of non-Hispanic whites;

Whereas pre-pandemic, 26% of children in DC lived in poverty; and most of color;

Whereas immigrant communities comprise 15 percent of DC’s population, during the pandemic, immigrant women lost jobs at a disproportionate rate as high as 18.5 % at the shutdown, and at 8.4% versus 5.8% of US-born women in December;

Whereas Black D.C. households are 13.5 times more likely to report they experience some food insecurity than White D.C. households;

Whereas, pre-pandemic, on average, 35% of Black families headed by single mothers were impoverished, as were 34 percent of Latinx headed households; and 22% of Asian-women headed households;

Whereas Black and Latinx women possess disproportionately greater caregiving responsibilities, work in lower paying jobs than their counterparts; experience health insecurity; are disproportionately essential workers; and due to Covid-19, between February and April 2020, 18.8% of Black women workers lost their jobs and 20% of Latinx women were unemployed;

Whereas women suffered all 140,000 of the job losses in December 2020;

Whereas 41% of Black-owned businesses were closed due to the pandemic, and 17% of White owned were;

Whereas Covid-19 and long-term economic relief are desperately needed in Washington, D.C., we urge you, the Mayor, to take action on Guaranteed Income;

And whereas pandemic response measures such as the Cares Act are likely responsible for thousands fewer people in poverty;

We are requesting that, you, as the Mayor of Washington D.C.

1. Join Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (https://www.mayorsforagi.org/);

2. Create a commission to study Guaranteed Income for Washington D.C.; and

3. As a member of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, affirm your support for the group’s Statement of Principles, which are:

– Advocate for a guaranteed income at the local, state, and federal level.

– Invest in narrative change efforts to highlight the lived experiences of economic insecurity.

– Invite other cities to join us in our efforts, and provide technical assistance and funding support for new pilots.