BY AIDAN GRAHAM
State Sen. Kevin Parker
introduced a bill on Sept. 9 to
give 10,000 New Yorkers a $600
check every month for two
years — no strings attached —
in an elaborate and costly test
of a proposed “Universal Basic
Income” program that he eventually
wants to expand into a
statewide subsidy.
“We see robots taking over
the jobs of people,” said Parker.
“We have to take care of those
people. We have an obligation
to take care of them.”
Under Parker’s scheme,
10,000 low-income participants
from around the state would be
randomly selected to receive
checks every four weeks for
24 months — giving state bean
counters a chance to study the
economic impact of the program.
COURIER L 26 IFE, SEPT. 20-26, 2019
Selected individuals
would receive $7,200 per year,
and couples would get $14,400.
The pilot program would
cost taxpayers a whopping $144
million, with a potential cost
for statewide implementation
that even Parker called “eyepopping.”
But the legislator — who
represents several neighborhoods,
including Park Slope
and Flatbush — said the bold
welfare program was necessary
to combat what he sees
as a grim economic situation
right here in Brooklyn.
“It would give people the
ability to simply live decently
for a change, instead of struggling
in the way that their families
are struggling right now,”
said Parker. “When you drive
around Brooklyn, you see the
State Sen. Kevin Parker introduced a bill to give thousands of New Yorkers a monthly check as a pilot program
that he hopes will someday be implemented statewide. Photo by Colin Mixson
long lines at food pantries, and
it looks like the Depression.”
The “Universal Basic Income”
program would be more
easily implemented on the federal
level, according to Parker,
although the senator admits
he’s skeptical of Congress’s
ability to establish that kind of
sweeping social program.
That could potentially
change given the presidential
candidacy of entrepreneur
Andrew Yang, who has
championed the idea during
his long-shot bid for the White
House — although Parker remains
steadfast in his support
of Yang’s rival, California Sen.
Kamala Harris.
“I like Andrew Yang. He’s
got some good ideas,” said
Parker. “But there are a lot
of other issues that are important
for Americans, and particularly
Brooklynites. I feel that
Kamala Harris best speaks to
those issues, and has more of
a solution to some of those issues.”
So for now, Parker is focused
on delivering a monthly
check to his fellow New Yorkers
— and that includes yours
truly!
“In the full rollout of this,
everybody gets the money —
from Michael Bloomberg to
an underpaid reporter at the
Brooklyn Paper,” he said. “All
of them are going to get this
money.”
A wage just
for living
Brooklyn senator introduces
Universal Basic Income bill