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IPFS News Link • Illinois

Chicago "Task Force" Looks At Implementing Universal Basic Income

• https://www.zerohedge.com

Embattled Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is forming a task force that will analyze whether the city should establish a so-called "universal basic income" program, as they Mayor seeks to salvage his legacy - currently associated with Chicago's horrendous murder rate and broken pension system. Emanuel announced he would not be seeking a third term in next February's elections.

The task force set up by Emanuel will consist of a panel that will decide whether the welfare initiative could work, as the city wrestles with a $71 billion debt load, nearly $40 billion of which is pension debt. 

A Universal Basic Income scheme was first floated in July by Chicago Alderman Ameye Pawar - who is running for Governor of Illinois this November. Pawar's called on Emanuel tro launch a pilot program which would pay 1,000 families $500 each month. 

Pawar recently introduced a pilot for a UBI program in Chicago. Under his program, $500 a month would be delivered to 1,000 Chicago families — no strings attached. Additionally, the proposal would modify the Earned Income Tax Credit program for the same 1,000 families, so they'd receive payments on a monthly basis instead at the end of the year — a process known as "smoothing" that enables families to integrate the tax credit into their monthly budgets.

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"Nearly 70 percent of Americans don't have $1,000 in the bank for an emergency," Pawar told The Intercept. "UBI could be an incredible benefit for people who are working and are having a tough time making ends meet or putting food on the table at the end of the month. … It's time to start thinking about direct cash transfers to people so that they can start making plans about how they're going to get by." -The Intercept 


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