Fresno’s Guaranteed Basic Income Program

The Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) will administer a $1 million pilot anti-poverty program by providing 150 qualifying families (75 from Huron and 75 from the city of Fresno) $500 per month for 12 months.⁴ This local guaranteed basic income (GBI) program is called Advancing Fresno County Guaranteed Income.^1,2,3

In March 2024, the EOC began accepting applications to the program.¹ After reviewing about 10,000 applications, the EOC selected 150 families and began sending checks to those families in July.

Over the years, many governmental and nongovernmental programs have addressed poverty. Some of the complaints regarding poverty programs from lawmakers and recipients relate to the bureaucracy, the qualifications needed to receive benefits, stipulations around the use of the funds, program inefficiencies and the lack of demonstrable long-term benefit.

Public criticism of such programs is even more pronounced as seen in recent comments following Fresno Bee and Fresnoland coverage of Fresno County’s GBI program: taxes should not be used to help people in poverty, people in poverty deserve to be in poverty, people in poverty do not deserve any help from the government, poor people do not know how to properly manage their money and such money would only be spent on alcohol, tobacco or drugs.

The reality of GBI programs is substantially different.

Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI)

GBI is an attempt to alleviate poverty and replace other needs-based social programs with a program that requires less bureaucratic involvement and oversight.¹¹ GBI provides unconditional, regular, fixed amounts of cash to people in poverty.⁴ The money supplements the participants’ current income. There are no restrictions on use of the money.⁴

From 2017 through May 2024, 150–200 guaranteed income pilot programs were launched throughout the United States.^5,12 These pilot programs have lasted 12–24 months.

In February 2019, then Stockton mayor Michael D. Tubbs helped initiate the nation’s first mayor-led guaranteed income pilot program, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED).⁶ SEED gave 125 randomly selected residents $500 per month for 24 months. SEED was funded by philanthropies, primarily the Economic Security Project.

Benefits of GBI

When people are subjected to poverty they cannot meet their basic human needs. They often have to decide what they will go without. People living in poverty have to ask, “Do I spend money on rent, housing, food, clothes, medicine or repairing the car?” The stress from financial struggles often prevents them from embarking on education that might result in getting a job or a better job.

The results of the SEED program and other guaranteed income pilot programs universally find that people spend the money on basic necessities—housing, food, merchandise (e.g., hygiene products, shoes, clothes) and transportation.⁶ Only 1%–2% (depending on the program) of the tracked stipends were spent on alcohol or tobacco products.⁶

The health and well-being of the recipients improved with these programs.⁶ The numbers and percentages of people working full-time increased for recipients of the programs. In addition, the participants remained employed after the programs ended.⁶

After the period of extra income allowed the recipients to “catch up,” they continued to experience benefits even without the supplemental income. They continued to have ongoing employment, income stability, food security, housing, education, mental and physical health, and healthcare access.

California Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs

In fiscal 2021–22, the California budget had a large surplus. Given the success of the SEED program and other guaranteed income programs, Governor Newsom and the State Legislature allocated $35 million (0.01% of the $307.9 billion budget) to local government entities to start their own “universal basic income pilot programs.”⁷ Entities were asked to submit bids for the grants.

In November 2022, the state announced the seven entities that would receive the awards for five years¹ and distribute the funds under the GBI pilot projects they developed. The California Department of Social Services would oversee these seven pilot programs for fiscal 2022–23 through fiscal 2025–26. The Fresno County EOC applied for the grant funds but was not among the entities chosen.¹

Studies show that guaranteed income programs are more efficient and more effective than traditional government programs in relieving the poverty of recipients. Unrestricted guaranteed income programs “assume recipients can better choose how to allocate resources than government programs can—an assumption that rigorous research has proven accurate.”¹¹

EOC Program Does Not Involve Taxpayer Funds

Having failed to receive one of California’s guaranteed income grants, the Fresno County EOC sought outside funding for its GBI program. Half of the project’s funds came from the California Wellness Foundation, one of California’s largest public health philanthropic institutions. Other contributors include the following:

• The California Endowment
• Central Valley Community Foundation
• Delta Dental Community Care Foundation 
• James Irvine Foundation
• The Kresge Foundation
• Sierra Health Foundation
• Mayors for a Guaranteed Income¹⁵

(Tubbs, then mayor of Stockton, founded Mayors for a Guaranteed Income in June 2020. Since then, the group has grown from 11 to 125 U.S. mayors. Central Valley mayors participating include Huron’s Rey Leon, Lindsay’s Hipolito Angel Cerros and Delano’s Bryan Osorio, but not Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.)

U.S. Census data for 2022 show that Fresno County has some of the highest poverty rates in the nation with 22% of  city of Fresno residents living below the poverty line.¹⁰ The national average for people living in poverty is 12.5%.¹⁰

To qualify for the EOC’s GBI program, families had to have children under the age of five and income 80% or below the median income for their respective zip code. The families came from some of the area’s highest levels of concentrated poverty. Seventy-five families came from the 93706 zip code in southwest Fresno, and 75 families came from the 93234 zip code in the rural community of Huron.¹ The program allows the families to spend the money in whatever fashion they desire.   

Some States Ban GBI

Numerous studies have shown GBI programs to be successful in alleviating poverty, improving health, well-being and employment. Even so, several states (Arkansas, South Dakota, Idaho and Iowa) have recently passed legislation to ban guaranteed basic income.¹² Other states (Arizona, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Mississippi) have tried or are trying to ban GBI programs.

In February 2024, Houston launched Uplift Harris, a pilot guaranteed income program similar to a program in Austin, Texas, that ran from May 2022 to August 2023. Uplift Harris would give monthly payments of $500 for 18 months to about 1,900 low-income families. Funding of Uplift Harris included $20.5 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.¹⁶

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Harris County, which includes Houston, arguing that a guaranteed income program violated the state’s constitution ban on “gratuitous payments to individuals.” After losing in several lower courts, Paxton appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, which ordered Harris County to pause payments until litigation is resolved.¹⁷

While Texas was trying to block Houston from providing financial help to poor people, the Fresno County EOC started sending out its first $500 checks on July 17. The EOC will provide financial and administrative support. The Center for Community Voices at Fresno State will evaluate the impact and potential benefits of the guaranteed income program.¹⁸

The co-directors of the Center for Community Voices are Andy Levine, who is a Fresno Unified School District Board trustee, and Amber Crowell, an associate professor of sociology. The Center’s evaluation will determine if Fresno residents benefit from a guaranteed income program as much as residents in other parts of the country.

References

1. fresnobee.com/news/local/article285499442.html. Melissa Montalvo’s March 4, 2024, Fresno Bee article on the program.
2. fresnobee.com/news/local/article290093924.html. Melissa Montalvo’s July 22, 2024, Fresno Bee article on Fresno’s guaranteed basic income program.
3. fresnoland.org/2024/07/18/is-this-real-150-families-receive-first-stipends-from-fresnos-guaranteed-basic-income-project/
4. fresnoeoc.org/guaranteed-income/ 
5. economicsecurityproject.org/work/guaranteed-income/
6. static1.squarespace.com/static/6039d612b17d055cac14070f/t/6050294a1212aa40fdaf773a/1615866187890/SEED_Analysis
7. cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/guaranteed-income-pilot-program  
8. plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov/wordpress/?p=27335#:~:text=
9. thebusinessjournal.com/fresno-county-2022-crop-value-hits-record-8-09b-earning-no-2-spot/
10. datausa.io/profile/geo/fresno-ca#:~:text=
11. investopedia.com/terms/b/basic-income.asp
12. urban.org/urban-wire/banning-guaranteed-income-programs-undermines-american-values#:~:text 
13. governing.com/urban/guaranteed-income-programs-pick-up-steam#:~:text=
14. cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/governments-pandemic-response-turned-a-would-be-poverty-surge-into#:~:text. August 29, 2023, article in Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on the impact on U.S. poverty as a result of the government’s economic response to the pandemic.
15. mayorsforagi.org/
16. uplift.harriscountytx.gov/FAQs#:~:text=
17. houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/harris-county/2024/06/14/490746/texas-supreme-court-halts-payments-under-uplift-harris/#:~:text=
18. socialsciences.fresnostate.edu/sociology/ccv.html
19. denverbasicincomeproject.org/research. Denver’s Basic Income Project began in 2022. It was a study of guaranteed income for unhoused individuals. They gave unhoused individuals $1,000 per month for one year.\