Months after their budget season victory, a group of District mothers continue to advocate, not only for an expansion of guaranteed basic income and the child income tax credit, but the abolishment of a benefits cliff that jeopardizes access to rent and food subsidies.
In the most recent juncture of their efforts, the mothers and their allies stormed the John A. Wilson Building in Northwest on Sept. 19. That’s where, in the spirit of Guaranteed Basic Income Week, they shared their stories, engaged two council members in dialogue, and sat down with the staff members of three other council members.
Long before they walked through the halls of the Wilson Building, some mothers, like Mother Mother Binahkaye Joy, shared stories that reinforce the significance of their cause.
Joy, a Ward 4 resident and mother of five, counted among more than 30 mothers, leaders, students and allies who visited the Wilson Building on Sept 19. She represented home birthing mothers as she and her son Bloom Muwonge, an 11-year-old homeschool student, spoke about their struggles with high rent and utility shutoffs.
“A guaranteed basic income would generate tremendous relief for mothers who need an abundance of food and support for their families,” Joy said in her written testimony before fellow members of Mothers Outreach Network and D.C. Guaranteed Income Coalition in Room 104 of the Wilson Building.
“Oftentimes, when tremendous assistance is given, it’s not enough to cover every need,” Joy said. “If I had access to unrestricted funds, I could focus on my health and the sacred labor of welcoming life, [while] not carrying the anxiety of where we would live.”
Some Progress, Room for Improvement after Months of Advocacy
For more than two years, the Mothers Outreach Network and D.C. Guaranteed Income Coalition partners have coalesced around the provision of tax credits for low- and moderate-income families with children, as outlined in the District Child Tax Credit Act of 2023.
D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) introduced that legislation, which proposes a credit of up to $500 for eligible tax filers, depending on their income and family structure. The bill was co-introduced alongside D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and D.C. Councilmembers Christina Henderson (I-At large), Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), Trayon White (D-Ward 8), Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), and Robert White (D-At large).
Parker also championed the Financial Support for Families with Children Amendment Act, which would provide up to an additional $1,000 to families earning up to $10,000 annually, depending on structure and income.
While the D.C. Council included the child tax credit for families in the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Act for families of up to three children under the age of 5, advocates are seeking the expansion of the credits to cover children as old as 17, a year older than what federal law requires. The extension would also include an elimination of the cap on the number of the children covered in each household.
Other priorities include the expansion of D.C.’s Strong Families, Strong Futures guaranteed basic income pilot program to new and expectant mothers living in all eight wards. Advocates also demand the launch of a commission that evaluates the program’s impact on perinatal and infant health outcomes, along with specialized pilots to 750 additional District households.
The Guaranteed Income Coalition also has its eye on stronger protections so that families receiving child tax credits and guaranteed basic incomes don’t lose eligibility for housing assistance and other benefits by virtue of their income increasing.
Though the D.C. Council partially addressed this issue through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Expansion Clarification Act of 2022, guaranteed income pilot recipients still wouldn’t overcome income eligibility requirements for some public programs without some federal government intervention.
The Illinois General Assembly passed a law requiring it to seek, among other provisions, federal waivers for income eligibility requirements. Melody Webb, an attorney and executive director of Mothers Outreach Network said the Illinois General Assembly can serve as a model for the D.C. Council as it navigates that issue in the realms of public housing and other public benefits.
“Guaranteed basic income galvanized the conversation around the benefits cliff [and] how we can use our public safety net to act as a support for people as they dip their toe back into the job market after having been out of it for various reasons,” Webb said. “The cost of living in D.C. is astronomically high. The way these programs are structured with federal designs, we need to get those rules changed. D.C. does have the power to change the rules [for some programs] and they have done that.”
In the coming weeks, Mothers Outreach Network will launch a campaign to challenge negative perceptions about low and moderate-income Black mothers who receive government assistance. That campaign follows a collaboration with the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard University, through which Mothers Outreach Network’s Mother Up guaranteed income research pilot started disbursing monthly payments of $500 to a dozen mothers who have recently or are currently entangled in D.C.’s child welfare system.
Webb told The Informer that direct cash pilot programs, such as Mother Up and the publicly funded direct cash program Strong Families, Strong Futures, can only become permanent policy once the wider public can compel local and federal government officials to come to grips with what she described as this society’s deep-seated disdain for the marginalized.
“We have a strong culture of deservedness in this country and believe, based on race and class, that people have to earn their keep and they don’t deserve help,” Webb said. “We’re committed to jumping out there and changing the narrative. We believe in leveling the playing field and giving people a hand to make things even. Policy change will follow a change of heart, and if we can get rid of the larger divisive political discourse, then we have a shot at that.”
District Mothers Set Out to Control the Narrative
On Sept. 19, members of Mothers Outreach Network and D.C. Guaranteed Income Coalition interacted with Parker, who tuned into their meeting virtually, and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who they saw walking through the halls of the Wilson Building.
They also sat down with staffers of D.C. Council members Anita Bonds (D-At large), Christina Henderson (I-At large) and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6).
Those who spoke in Room 104 of the Wilson Building included District mothers Yesmine Holmes, Laketha Welcher, and Rahketa Steele. Teron Best, a student at Social Justice School in Northeast, also reflected on the power of advocacy while Rev. Wendy Hamilton, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in the Bellevue neighborhood in Southeast, heralded guaranteed basic income as a significant budget issue.
Steele, a Strong Families, Strong Futures recipient who lives in Ward 8, spoke highly about the program. She said the funds helped her at a time when she had to stop working to take care of her sick child. Her story, she told organizers, bears a strong similarity to that of other District mothers in the program.
“People spent most of their funding on food, housing and transportation,” Steele said. “They also saved for their future. Guaranteed income is good for families. The money from these programs help cover rent, clothing and diapers.”
Welcher, a domestic violence survivor, recounted the difficulties she faced securing a voucher. She stood in solidarity with her fellow mothers on Sept. 19, telling them that she, and they, deserve a safety net to secure their children’s future.
“The lack of affordable housing is a serious issue,” Welcher said. “A guaranteed basic income will provide stability for my family and ensure that I can meet my housing needs. It will reduce financial stress by covering necessities and removing a sense of worry.”
Shortly before Welcher said her comments, coalition member Veronica Tucker called on members of the D.C. Council to address the benefits cliff issue, saying that every dollar counts for families struggling to survive and thrive in the District.
“We want the council to realize that people need all the benefits,” Tucker said. “We’re in a costly city. If you don’t have the funds to live here, you’re out. The assistance is necessary. We’re talking about mothers with older children.”
Parker expressed solidarity with the D.C. Guaranteed Income Coalition. As coalition members prepare to combat misconceptions about guaranteed basic income through its narrative change ambassadors program, he set out to remind organizers that their cause requires no explanation.
“It will take courage and a moral reckoning to see that everyone receives the minimum,” Parker said. “For far too many residents, that’s not the case. Guaranteed basic income is a moral issue about how we meet everyone’s basic needs.”
Brittany Pope, economic security supervisor at Bread for the City, expressed similar thoughts about guaranteed basic income, telling organizers on Sept. 19 that recipients of benefits shouldn’t have their finances scrutinized. She reflected on the misconceptions she often hears about the population she serves, later doubling down on her assertion that all families deserve economic support.
“We need to change the narrative,” Pope said. “People overwhelmingly spend money on their basic needs. We want families safe and with food on the table, so we need more money for guaranteed basic income. We need to expand Strong Families, Strong Futures and the benefits cliff protections. I had people pushed out of the city and we can’t have that.”