Basic Income Pilot Participants' Union

Income inequality

City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit) County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Within the basic income community, there is currently a gap between those who have the most relevant and direct experience in basic income - pilot participants - and those developing new, larger scale programs and policies. There are over 6,000 pilot participants in the LA area. Yet there is no formal entity to support these key community members to build power and ensure they have a seat at the table in developing the programs designed to support their own community. With state budget deficits, federal funding shrinking for programs to support basic needs, and growing job loss due to AI and automation, the impact, efficiency and power of basic income will be an important response in the coming years. It is critical that community members who already experienced basic income are part of the advocacy and leadership of the movement, to minimize poorly designed interventions that are harmful or ineffectual on those they will serve.

Income Movement (IM) is creating the space for a first-of-its-kind Union of Basic Income (Pilot) Participants (UBIP). This will be a program led by and for participants as a space for them to create their own priorities and build the tools and relationships necessary to be strong advocates for basic income. IM will support the infrastructure and provide the resources to the UBIP so they can focus on organizing processes and roadmap building. IM will also offer training and technical assistance in any areas the union identifies as priorities to build a movement and a community together. We are intentionally creating space in LA’s basic income (BI) work for pilot participants to share their unique expertise in economic justice. Key to this program is paying UBIP members, so that participants are compensated for their time and expertise and to ensure they are kept financially whole as they lean into advocacy. We are targeting LA for an initial rollout of the UBIP because of both the significant number of pilot participants in the region, and because of a concentration of leadership support for basic income. There is a real opportunity for significant new basic income programs or policies to rise in the near future in LA. IM has deep partnerships with organizations administrating pilot programs in the region to support participant engagement and connect their advocacy to growing efforts.

LA County will transform as basic income shifts from a radical idea to a commonly accepted one, reflected in the priorities of LA community members and leadership. Year 1 goals are to build the base of the union and cultivate a supporting pilot community to build a vision for systems change deeply informed by their experiences. They will build deep processes and infrastructure to formalize their power. We will connect them to policy makers and advocacy organizations at the city, county, state and national levels to become a powerful grassroots network, where people in power work elbow-to-elbow with people in the community to build effective cross communication and co-design programs.
Long term, the goal is instituting a broader basic income in LA, where those living in poverty are receiving a direct intervention of monthly income. LA can provide a roadmap to state and national leaders on how to scale basic income to support more community members.