Join us tomorrow, Friday, May 24, from 2- 3 pm for drop-in meetings at the Wilson Building. This will be our final visit prior to next Tuesday’s May 29th Committee of the Whole Budget Oversight Hearing. A critical moment of action for members of the Council to stand up for marginalized communities, that hearing will include the first of two votes on DC budget legislation, the FY 2025 Local Budget Act of 2025 and the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Act of 2024.
In addition to raising the many priorities and battles we share with allies, during our visit we will highlight the critical role direct cash via pilots and refundable tax credits can play in the lives of the 13 percent of DC residents living in poverty. Below we share several core reasons to support guaranteed income measures in the budget. Help us tell the Council to include new and bold proposals that shore up the resources of economically marginalized DC residents: tell the Council to support the District Child Tax Credit Amendment Act of 2023 proposal.
It is vital to push for inclusion of the District Child Tax Credit in FY 2025 budget legislation, but not at the exclusion of other priorities. Urge the Council to fight for an abundance platform in this budget: to protect and restore the Pay Equity Fund, the Access to Justice Fund, and other critical existing programs, as well as to build programs that create a world where people can easily meet their basic needs and live with dignity. And tell them to pay for these vital programs through tax code revenue raisers!
Finally, Guaranteed Income, in the form of the District Child Tax Credit and pilot programs, is a critical measure to help close gaps in the public safety net of the DC budget. Guaranteed income matters in the DC budget! Thank you in advance for reviewing our reminders of why it does.
In Solidarity,
Melody
Melody Webb
Founder and Executive Director
Mother’s Outreach Network / DC Guaranteed Income Coalition
Drop by DC Council offices with us tomorrow, Friday, from 2 to 3pm. Stand up for the District Child Tax Credit and a restoration of human needs programs in the FY 2025 budget!
Why Does Guaranteed Income Matter in the DC Budget?
Because it has proven a powerful tool for cutting poverty across the country.
Learn, share, and support the case that guaranteed Income has proven across the country!
As discussed in the basic primer resources below, guaranteed income is a critical policy to provide unconditional cash, with no strings or work requirements, to raise up people living below a basic income floor. Since the Covid-19 pandemic energized the cause for emergency cash, national organizations like Mayors for a Guaranteed Income have been partnering with state and local activists, organizers and officials to spread guaranteed income pilots to change policy. Their mission has been to include marginalized communities in our economy.
Why Does Guaranteed Income Matter in the DC Budget?
Because the local DC community is leading the charge.
Stand up for Guaranteed Income pilots and policy in Washington, DC communities!
DC’s Bread for the City aims to lift people with chronic conditions up with ‘a prescription for cash. DC nonprofit Bread for the City recently announced their direct cash program which offers monthly payments to individuals with chronic health conditions in an effort to reduce income inequalities and health disparities. Read more here.
Mothers accused of child neglect will get cash in D.C. poverty study. A project of Mother’s Outreach Network, the Mother Up pilot assists Black mothers involved in the child welfare system with cash payments to explore the impact that additional income has on family stability and socioeconomic wellbeing. Recruitment for this pilot is still underway! Read more here.
Emergency cash assistance program for domestic violence survivors launches in DC. My Sister’s Place, a local domestic violence service provider will benefit families participating in one of its transitional housing programs. It provides $500 per month to 45 families for two years. Read more here.
Why Does Guaranteed Income Matter in the DC Budget?
Because tax credits, a form of guaranteed income, are at stake, the local EITC and the proposed District Child Tax Credit (EITC) bills matter. The EITC expansion was frozen in the Mayor’s budget and should be restored. The District Child Tax Credit Amendment Act of 2023, on which the DC GI Coalition worked with Councilmember Zachary Parker, could cut poverty for families living in deepest poverty. The federal 2022 Child Tax Credit expansion did so. As recommended by DC Fiscal Policy Institute, the District tax code also offers opportunities to pay for the economic measures we need for racial and economic justice.
Stand up for Tax Code justice: Support the DCTC!
The tax code is the path to guaranteed income. Read our statement to the Tax Revision Commission here.
Why Does Guaranteed Income Matter in the DC Budget?
Because the evidence is in. DC should expand its current guaranteed income pilot program, for which the DC Guaranteed Income Coalition fought, Strong Families, Strong Futures. Through over one hundred pilots across the country, direct cash programs have demonstrated the power of guaranteed income.
In recognition of the need for guaranteed income, national organizers are hosting events. To share, learn and celebrate, advocates, organizers, researchers, policymakers, and funders from across the country are coming together to chart a new path to lasting policy change with guaranteed income. Join us locally by supporting the District Child Tax Credit Amendment Act of 2023.
Stand up for Guaranteed Income pilots and policy in Washington, DC communities!
JUNE 11-12
Mark your calendars for June 11th and 12th as DC GI Coalition members participate in the Guaranteed Income Now conference in Detroit, Michigan. Register here to attend.
JULY 22-23
Join us July 22nd and 23rd as DC GI Coalition members present on a panel at the BIG Conference 2024 in San Francisco, California. Register here to attend either virtually or in-person.
Why Does Guaranteed Income Matter in the DC Budget?
Because they face unique experiences that can impact their ability to provide for their basic needs – women, particularly Black and brown women, would be hard-hit by the Mayor’s proposed FY 2025 budget.
Join the DC Women and Guaranteed Income Project!
The DC Guaranteed Income Coalition and Women project convened DC pilot participants for a storytelling session to discuss the urgency, and celebrate the power of guaranteed income! These women are committed to the fight for racial, gender, and economic justice in Washington, DC through direct and unrestricted cash programs. Join us!
Earlier this month, the DC Guaranteed Income Coalition convened DC women participants in Bread for the City, Muslims for a Just Future, and Mother’s Outreach Network guaranteed income pilots. Their recording session facilitated a sharing of their stories and discussion of how guaranteed income could address challenges in their lives and those of others. Our Stories, Our Justice Project collaborated on the effort to lift up and amplify the voices of DC women fighting for a guaranteed income. Stay tuned for more details to come!
