{"id":2343302,"date":"2024-09-19T09:36:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T13:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/loudoun-county-guaranteed-income-pilot-program-voted-down-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-19T09:39:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T13:39:41","slug":"loudoun-county-guaranteed-income-pilot-program-voted-down-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/loudoun-county-guaranteed-income-pilot-program-voted-down-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Loudoun County guaranteed income pilot program voted down &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Floudoun-county-guaranteed-income-pilot-program-voted-down-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2343302&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Loudoun County&#8217;s Board of Supervisors\u200d recently voted against a \u2062proposed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/more-than-80-cities-counties-using-federal-pandemic-aid-to-fund-guaranteed-income-pilot-programs\/\" title=\"More Than 80 Cities, Counties Using Federal Pandemic Aid to Fund Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs\">guaranteed income pilot program<\/a>\u2064 after having previously \u200dshown\u200c support for it. \u200bDespite\u200d a favorable vote in \u2064May\u2063 to allocate $2 million\u200d for the program&#8217;s development, the recent decision resulted\u2062 in a 3-5-1 outcome against it. The program aimed to\u2063 provide monthly cash benefits\u2062 of $500 to 60 families earning around 30% of the area\u2019s median income, \u2064similar\u200c to initiatives in nearby jurisdictions like Alexandria, Arlington, and\u200d Fairfax. Opponents raised concerns about the lack of conditions on how recipients \u200dcould use the funds and the potential for unreliable data collection. Some \u2062supervisors argued for focusing on targeted \u200dassistance programs that address critical needs such as food,\u2063 shelter, and\u2063 medical\u200d care. Others questioned the program&#8217;s financial\u200b viability and \u200bimplementation\u200d costs, leading to disappointment among proponents \u2064who had \u200danticipated moving \u2063forward after initial support.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Loudoun County guaranteed income pilot program voted down<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1763999\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square)&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;After months of discussion and the adoption of similar programs by some of its neighbors, Loudoun County leadership voted down a guaranteed income pilot program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In a surprising turn of events, Loudoun County&rsquo;s Board of Supervisors abandoned the pursuit of a new economic mobility pilot in a 3-5-1 vote. Months earlier, in May, the board had voted 6-2-1 in favor of appropriating $2 million of county fund balance dollars to the program&rsquo;s development.<\/p>\n<p>Supervisors Michael Turner, D-Ashburn, Kristen Umstattd, D-Leesburg, and Caleb Kershner, R-Catoctin, joined those opposing (Kershner was absent for the May vote) and Laura TeKrony, D-Little River, abstained from voting. However, she had supported May&rsquo;s motion.<\/p>\n<p>The City of Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax counties have all implemented guaranteed income pilots &ndash; short-term, experimental programs that give participants monthly direct cash benefits to help meet economic needs. Loudoun had discussed doing the same.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the &ldquo;no strings attached&rdquo; aspect, a defining feature of such programs, gave the majority pause. In order to qualify as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oakland-to-enroll-600-families-of-color-in-guranteed-income-pilot-program\/\" title=\"Oakland to Enroll 600 Families of Color in \u2018Guranteed Income\u2019 Pilot Program\">guaranteed income program<\/a>, the program can&rsquo;t stipulate how recipients spend the money, nor can it require them to respond to program surveys, though the county can offer additional incentives for participation in data collection.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is not going to be scientific. We can fool ourselves into thinking that we&rsquo;re doing a scientific trial but we&rsquo;re not because the quality of the data coming back is going to be self-selected,&rdquo; said Supervisor Matthew Letourneau, R-Dulles, during Tuesday&rsquo;s board meeting. Letourneau opposed the program from the beginning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Loudoun had considered giving 60 families living at 30%, or just under $50,000, of the area&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-treasury-to-allow-covid-funds-for-state-local-affordable-housing-loans\/\" title=\"U.S. Treasury to allow COVID funds for state, local affordable housing loans\">median income level<\/a> a $500 monthly cash benefit. Umstattd, who recently voiced her disapproval of the program at a finance committee meeting in favor of more targeted assistance programs, reiterated her concerns.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are creating a whole new infrastructure to give money&hellip; to folks whose need is well-demonstrated, without guardrails at this point for any use they might care to put these funds to,&rdquo; Umstattd said. &ldquo;Our critical needs in the county are food, shelter [and] medical care, and I think we should use our existing infrastructure to potentially beef up those areas.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Though&nbsp;TeKrony did not outright oppose the program, she asked a series of pointed financial questions. Before the board&rsquo;s vote in May to support the program through county surplus funds, it was thought that money for the program would come from the federally funded American Rescue Plan. As staff researched the program and details became more apparent, supervisors were asked more specific questions about expenses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>TeKrony seemed to have issues with implementation costs, as the direct cash benefit to households only accounted for roughly 20% of the total program cost, as well as with remaining financial unknowns.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Why wasn&rsquo;t the temporary staffing included in the budget estimate?&rdquo; she asked.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There are several temporary staffing options that are being employed in neighboring jurisdictions, so we would like to explore that as part of either additional supports or through the contract administration, there would be supports built into that,&rdquo; replied Megan Cox, division manager for the county&rsquo;s finance department.<\/p>\n<p>Vice Chair Juli Briskman, D-Algonkian, a staunch supporter of the program, expressed disappointment over the decline in enthusiasm and surprise that the board wasn&rsquo;t moving forward after making room for it in its budget.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I feel as if everyone was okay with this when we were going to use ARPA funds,&rdquo; Briskman said. &ldquo;For me right now not to support this, I feel like would kind of be going a little bit back on what I feel like was kind of an agreement.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I feel as if there are more statistics out there supporting the success of these programs,&rdquo; she added, citing articles and reports from other programs of increased part-time work, entrepreneurship, success in paying down credit card debt and positive effects on mental health and family relationships. &ldquo;This is a pilot program; I&rsquo;m happy to support it and see how it goes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Chair Phyllis Randall, D-At Large, chose not to support the program, likening it to school vouchers in that it &ldquo;benefit[s] a small group&rdquo; and has &ldquo;very few guardrails.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is school vouchers on steroids. If I don&rsquo;t support school vouchers, why would I support this?&rdquo; Randall asked.<\/p>\n<p>Though Supervisor Koran Saines, D-Sterling, who had championed the program, remained committed and pleaded with his colleagues &ndash; nearly all mentioned their &ldquo;deep respect&rdquo; for Saines when sharing their objections &ndash; the proposal was killed Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1763999\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1763999\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Loudoun County&#8217;s guaranteed income pilot program has been rejected by its leadership after extensive discussions and the implementation of similar initiatives by neighboring areas. In an unexpected decision, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-5-1 against moving forward with the economic mobility pilot. Earlier in May, they had approved a budget allocation of $2 million for the program with a vote of 6-2-1. Supervisors Michael Turner, D-Ashburn; Kristen Umstattd, D-Leesburg; and Caleb Kershner, R-Catoctin (who was absent during the May vote), joined those opposing it this time around. Laura TeKrony, D-Little River, abstained from voting despite having supported the earlier motion.<\/p>\n<p>Cities like Alexandria and Arlington as well as Fairfax County have launched guaranteed income pilots that provide participants with monthly cash benefits to address their economic needs. Loudoun had considered implementing a similar initiative aimed at assisting 60 families earning around 30% of the area\u2019s median income with $500 monthly payments. However, concerns about the lack of restrictions on how recipients could use these funds led to hesitation among board members.<\/p>\n<p>Supervisor Matthew Letourneau expressed skepticism about the scientific validity of such programs during Tuesday&#8217;s meeting and opposed it from its inception. Umstattd reiterated her preference for more targeted assistance programs instead: \u201cWe are creating a whole new infrastructure to give money\u2026 without guardrails at this point for any use they might care to put these funds to,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n<p>TeKrony raised financial questions regarding implementation costs that were not initially included in budget estimates while expressing concerns over remaining uncertainties related to expenses associated with staffing and administration.<\/p>\n<p>Vice Chair Juli Briskman voiced disappointment over her colleagues&#8217; change in stance after previously supporting funding through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) resources: \u201cI feel as if everyone was okay with this when we were going to use ARPA funds.\u201d She cited evidence from other programs showing positive outcomes such as increased part-time employment and improved mental health among participants.<\/p>\n<p>Chair Phyllis Randall compared the program unfavorably to school vouchers due to perceived benefits being limited to a small group without sufficient oversight: \u201cIf I don\u2019t support school vouchers, why would I support this?\u201d Despite Supervisor Koran Saines\u2019 advocacy for the initiative\u2014acknowledged by his peers\u2014the proposal ultimately failed on Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2343303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/printing-money-spending.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[41216,37930,37361,32076],"class_list":["post-2343302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-guaranteed-income","tag-loudoun-county","tag-pilot-program","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/printing-money-spending.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2343302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2343303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2343302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2343302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2343302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}