Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is trying to seek council approval to use $2.5 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funding to start a guaranteed personal income program. This would be for a New England region of the U.S. On Tuesday, this funding is set to be introducing to the City Council.
Mayor Peduto Wants to Try This Funding Idea While Other States are Already Onboard
Ranging from $500 per month in a West Coast state and city to $1,00 per month to Black mothers in a Southern state and city, the idea is testing with this monthly cash payment.
Peduto has joined Mayors for a Guaranteed Income in July 2020. This is a group of municipal leaders are advocating these programs.
Mayor Peduto and the City’s Pilot Program
The city’s pilot program will focus on Black women and it is worth testing locally according to Peduto. Moreover, the particular details about the program have not been finalizing yet.
Uplifting Residents of Pittsburgh
“The very foundations of American life have been shaking by COVID-19. It has laid bare the economic inequity that particularly affects our communities of color,” Peduto said this when he joined the group last year. “We are proud to join enterprising leaders across the country. They are committing to policies around guaranteed income. Thus fundamentally rethink our economic structures to support and then uplift the residents of Pittsburgh.
American Rescue Act Plan
Approximately $2.5 of the $335 million in the American Rescue Act Plan would, in fact, fund and be allocating to OnePGH. It is a stand-alone entity Mayor Peduto’s office did create this past April. The role of OnePGH is to oversee the contributions from the city’s nonprofit sector. Then, PGH would then fund the pilot program.
“There are cities across the country that are using ARP money to do this,” Dan Gilman, Peduto’s chief of staff, said.
