Prince George’s County will guarantee basic income to up to 175 seniors and young people for a two-year pilot program, county leaders said in a Tuesday news conference launching the project — an achievement for a newer council member steering the Maryland county’s policies in a more liberal direction.
The program, known as Thrive Prince George’s, will pay $800 a month over a two-year period to 125 residents ages 60 and up and to 50 residents ages 18 to 24, in an attempt to raise “vulnerable residents out of the cycle of poverty,” County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) said.
Alsobrooks noted that neighboring jurisdictions, such as the District, Fairfax and Montgomery County, have launched similar programs that have led residents to pay down debt, move into permanent housing and further their educations.
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“With a guaranteed, steady stream of income, pursuing new opportunities will be much easier,” she said. “It is our hope that this program will lift Prince Georgians out of poverty, setting up some of our most vulnerable residents for success now and for years to come, even after the program ends.”
The $4 million pilot program is the product of legislation that District 7 council member Krystal Oriadha (D) introduced earlier this year. Since joining the council last December, Oriadha has led legislation aimed at stabilizing rent, raising a Pride flag over the county administration building during Pride Month and boosting equity among tow truck contracts with the county.
The all-Democratic council passed the legislation in April by an 8-0 vote, despite some members’ concerns about how the guaranteed-basic-income project would be funded and Alsobrooks’s concerns about the county’s budget shortfall. Ultimately, the initiative is being funded through private and public money, in a way that Alsobrooks stressed did not and would not affect the county’s budget.
The county executive’s office tapped remaining funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to provide $1 million to the program. Because nonprofits will be in charge of disbursing the benefits, it allowed for ARPA money to assist.
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The Greater Washington Community Foundation, the largest funder of nonprofit organizations in the region, committed $1 million early on. The Meyer Foundation, an independent, private philanthropic institution, also provided $1 million.
The council came up with the final $1 million share of the $4 million target by using grant dollars available in its budget, Oriadha said.
“I’m just excited that everyone saw this as a priority, because I think [money] is always what it comes down to,” she said. “I always say: ‘The money is there. It’s what we prioritize.’”
The Prince George’s pilot is modeled after a Stockton, Calif., program that gave randomly chosen residents $500 a month over 24 months, with no strings attached.
A 2021 independent review of the first year of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration showed positive signs for the program, despite skepticism from politicians and some voters who feared it would discourage work or encourage abuse of vices. The study found that participants were twice as likely to gain full-time employment as others and that most of the money was spent on food and other essentials, with alcohol and tobacco accounting for less than 1 percent of tracked purchases.
In Prince George’s County, applications to be part of the program are expected to open around mid-December, said Tonia Wellons, president and chief executive of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. PG ChangeMakers will be a partner in getting the word out about the applications, she said.
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Wellons estimated that the selection process could take four to six weeks, with the first payments distributed in early 2024.
Before then, her organization has been thinking about how disadvantaged groups interact with the financial sector. For some participants, Wellons noted, payments by card or check might be easiest.
“We would encourage bank accounts so they can build their own access to credit,” she said, “but we also need to be sensitive to how people are accustomed to receiving their payments.”
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