STOCKTON, Calif. – A year and a half ago, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs launched the first guaranteed income initiative in a U.S. city. One hundred and twenty-five recipients with an income at or below $46,000 were randomly selected to receive $500 a month for 18 months to help improve their livelihoods.

Now, more California mayors are looking to start similar universal basic income programs in their cities.

One Stockton recipient, Zohna Everett, thought the money was too good to be true when she first received the call notifying her that she was one of the people selected to receive the guaranteed income. 

“You know it came right on time. It was much needed, like you have no idea,” Everett said.

Everett says the news was an answered prayer. At the time, she was unemployed and her then-husband was working limited hours as a contracted truck driver.

Her $500 monthly allowance comes from a privately funded universal income program known as Stockton’s Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED. 

Everett says the money she receives from SEED has helped her to stay calm and keep up with bills during the pandemic. She works at Tesla, but has been out of work for several months after testing positive for COVID-19 in April. 

“You never know what’s going to happen, and I’ve said this before, your life can change just like a light switch,” Everett said.

Critics argue the free cash gives people an incentive to not work, but Mayor Michael Tubbs points out that this has not been the case since SEED launched in Stockton.

Independent researchers studying the program have found that recipients are using 40 percent of the money to pay for food, 25 percent on sales merchandise, 11 percent on utility bills and 9 perent on car repairs and gas.

Despite the backlash, Mayor Tubbs is proud of the program and says stories like Everett’s make the fight worth it.

“Those stories remind me how smart, how resilient, how tough people are, and how they’re not sitting waiting for things to happen. They’re making things happen and just need a little bit of help,” Mayor Tubbs said.

Tubbs is Stockton’s first black mayor, and after the protests following George Floyd’s death, he brought mayors from around the country together to address racial inequality and the benefits of universal basic income. 

“The idea sounds scary, but it’s not. We are walking into a great depression. Unemployment is at 20 percent. We have the greatest global health crisis since 1918,” Mayor Tubbs said.

Now, he’s launching the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income [MGI] with more than a dozen other prominent city leaders, including L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Compton Mayor Aja Brown. 

“It’s courageous what Mayor Brown and Mayor Garcetti are doing, and they should be applauded for that. Not every mayor in the country is putting themselves on the line to say we should do this,” Mayor Tubbs said.

The coalition of mayors is committed to investing in more guaranteed income initiatives and cash-based policies in their cities. Mayor Tubbs acknowledges this cannot be the only solution to close the racial wealth gap, but he believes it’s a big first step. 

“We have to have a response, just like we did in 1935 with the New Deal, which gave us social security and unemployment insurance – but it’s now 2020,” Mayor Tubbs added.

And with 2020 being a year full of uncertainty, Everett says she was relieved when she found out the SEED program had been extended for an additional six months. The initiative was set to expire this July, but thanks to a donation from philanthropist Carol Tonan, $500 debit cards will continue to be sent out to participants each month until January 2021. 

“The money is needed, that’s why I said it’s important. Everybody don’t have that,” Everett said.

So, for now, she’s grateful for the little things she can do because of the SEED money, like putting gas in her car, buying a birthday card for a friend and taking care of her yard. 

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is donating $3 million to help fund the MGI coalition.

“This is one tool to close the wealth and income gap, level systemic race and gender inequalities, and create economic security for families,” Dorsey tweeted.