Promoting smaller and more efficient government and enabling the dignity and freedom of hard-working Arizonans, Unconditional Universal Basic Income is not a left-wing scheme. On the contrary, it is supported by many in the faith-based community because it embodies Christian values. It is a solution that both Conservatives and Liberals can embrace, supported by both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and conservative economist Milton Friedman.

By enabling the elimination of many costly and bureaucratic welfare programs that create harmful incentives, Unconditional Universal Basic Income would save taxpayers money and lead to a smaller, more efficient government. By reducing poverty, crime, and homelessness while simultaneously improving work, education, and health outcomes, Unconditional Universal Basic Income would save taxpayers further money and restore dignity to all Arizonans.

Where it has been tried, Basic Income has empowered people to become more self-sufficient. Alaska has a Universal Basic Income, lower inflation rates than the continental US, and lower poverty rates than the continental US. Unconditional Universal Basic Income would turbocharge the burgeoning entrepreneurship powerhouse that Arizona can become.

Unconditional Universal Basic Income is not a utopian fantasy.

We urge the Arizona legislature to reconsider HB2375, and instead of banning basic income, explore its potential to benefit all Arizonans. 

We invite the proponents of this bill to learn more about the facts and evidence around basic income and to join us in a constructive dialogue on how to create a more prosperous future for our state and our country.

We at The Logical Foundation are ready and willing to share our knowledge on basic income, and to collaborate with anyone who desires a better future for Arizona. To that end, we are hosting The Logical Foundation’s Basic Income Launch and Learn on Friday, May 10th. Regardless of political affiliation or ideology, we invite you to come and learn about basic income while participating in the launch of the first basic income program in Arizona. 

Get your free ticket here: https://givebutter.com/basicincome 

Thank you for your attention and your support. 

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About The Logical Foundation
The Logical Foundation is an Arizona-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization on a mission to ensure a prosperous future for humanity by unleashing the massive anti-poverty potential of basic income. 

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Between thought-provoking conversations and sneak peeks of some compelling new basic income films, our team had the privilege of meeting numerous leaders who are tirelessly working to advance the basic income movement. It was an opportunity to forge valuable connections and share our vision of unleashing the transformative power of basic income. We were fortunate to meet influential advocates like Scott Santens, widely recognized as the most effective online advocate for basic income, and Mark Donovan, whose Denver Basic Income Project has been an incredible source of inspiration for our Maximum Impact Pilot.

We took away some valuable insights:

1. There’s a divide between advocating for Universal (Unconditional) Basic Income and non-universal Guaranteed Basic Income, which involves means testing to ensure that only those in need receive the funds. Unfortunately, means testing and phaseouts can have burdensome effects similar to imposing higher taxes on the poor, but with added bureaucratic complexity. The encouraging news is that the majority of grassroots activists and economists seem to be leaning towards UBI, making it a pivotal issue in the basic income movement. We’ll be doing a deeper dive into this topic in an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned.

2. There’s a need for a more unified and streamlined approach to fundraising and funding within the guaranteed income movement. While this was a known issue, our team had several enlightening conversations with other nonprofits that are actively building basic income programs. They were genuinely intrigued by the potential of our platform concept and the significant impact it can make.

For instance, Just Income GNV, a nonprofit in Florida, is dedicated to reducing recidivism by providing basic income to individuals transitioning out of the prison system. Their director, Kevin Scott, expressed excitement at how our approach could enable more impact and realize their vision.

We want to create confidence in the relationships we’re building and we’re committed to ensuring that our platform enables our nonprofit partners and independent grassroots fundraisers fair compensation for their fundraising efforts.

3. The atmosphere at the conference was filled with incredible energy, surpassing our expectations. The movement is rapidly expanding, and there is a collective realization that this decade presents a tremendous opportunity to finally end poverty!

We are so grateful to our supporters and the organizers of the BIG Conference for providing travel stipends that made our participation possible. Keep an eye out for our upcoming blog post on U3BI, where we will delve into the essentials required for successful basic income policymaking. Together, we can make a positive change and create a better future for all.

The post The BIG Conference in Chicago was nothing short of amazing! appeared first on The Logical Foundation.

Deaths / Total Homeless Population: 1,286/9,026 = 14.2%

This devastating news is a reminder of the urgency of the homelessness crisis in our community. The fact that so many of our unhoused neighbours are dying on the streets and in shelters is unacceptable. It highlights the need for bold and effective action to end homelessness and ensure that everyone in our community has access to basic stability.

To that end, we’ve seen strong evidence that guaranteed income is the most cost-effective and dignified way to help our unhoused neighbours regain stability. We (The Logical Foundation) are working to demonstrate through our Maximum Impact Pilot that we can help most unhoused people regain housing & financial stability with $6,000 to $12,000 in dignified and direct cash assistance.

Death is an incalculable loss to friends and family, but scientists and statisticians have been attempting to put a price on preventing deaths for a century. The lowest government calculation of what it’s worth to prevent a life is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at $7.5 Million.

So how much did preventable homeless deaths cost us in 2022?

14.2% of the homeless population died in Maricopa County in 2022. The U.S. has an average annual death rate of just over 1% per year. Factoring out the normal death rate, homelessness itself results in an extra 13.2% chance of death every year.

Preventable Homeless Deaths = 9,026 * 13.2% = 1191
Multiplied by FEMA’s Cost of Preventable Death = $7.5M * 1191 = $8.93B

Preventable Homeless Deaths cost Maricopa County $8.9 Billion in 2022.

$8.9 Billion is more than 10 times the annual Phoenix Police Department budget. It would cost Maricopa County only 1.2% of the death cost ($108 Million) to provide every single person suffering from homelessness in the county a guaranteed income of $1,000 a month for a year.

Guaranteed income – direct and dignified recurring cash assistance – is the first realistic solution out there to successfully end the homelessness crisis and reduce poverty at scale. The Logical Foundation was built to unleash the massive anti-poverty potential of guaranteed income and conduct rigorous benchmarking research to compare it to conventional approaches. We hope to shift nonprofit resources towards the most impactful proven interventions and demonstrate the impact of directly empowering people in need.

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