Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Donates $3M To Create Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs In Several Cities, Including Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey is donating $3 million to a coalition of more than a dozen mayors, including Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, advocating for a federal guaranteed income.
"This is one tool to close the wealth and income gap, level systemic race and gender inequalities and create economic security for families," Dorsey said on Twitter.
The city announced last week Mayor Bill Peduto joined the Mayors for Guaranteed Income, a network of mayors around the country advocating for a guaranteed income following the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.
Forbes reports the majority of Dorsey's donation will help the mayors create guaranteed income pilot programs, which is something the City of Pittsburgh said last week it plans to take direct action on while advocating for change on the state and federal level.
Mayors for Guaranteed Income was founded last month by Mayor Michael Tubbs of Stockton, California, where the city has already started paying $500 a month to 125 eligible residents. In LA, residents received pre-paid debit cards of $700 to $1,500 to those whose total house hold income level fell before the poverty line before the pandemic.
"COVID-19 has shaken the very foundations of American life and laid bare the economic inequity that especially affects our communities of color," Mayor Peduto said in a press release.
"In committing to policies around guaranteed income, we are proud to join groundbreaking leaders from cities across the country in fundamentally rethinking our economic structures to support and uplift the residents of Pittsburgh."
