STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — Susie Garza has never heard of Yang. But since February, she's been getting $500 a month from a nonprofit in Stockton, as part of an experiment that offers something unusual in presidential politics: a trial run of a campaign promise, highlighting the benefits and challenges in real time.
Garza can spend the money however she wants. She uses $150 of it to pay for her cellphone and another $100 or so to pay off her dog's veterinarian bills. She spends the rest on her two grandsons now that she can afford to buy them birthday presents online and let them get them bags of chips at the 7-Eleven.
"I've never been able to do that. I thought it was just the coolest thing," said Garza, who is unemployed and previously was addicted to drugs, though she said she has been sober for 18 years after a stint in prison. "I like it because I feel more independent, like I'm in charge. I really have something that's my own."
Garza is part of an experiment testing the impact of "universal basic income," an old idea getting new life thanks to the 2020 presidential race, although Stockton's project is an independent one and has no connection to any presidential race.
Yang, a tech entrepreneur, has anchored his long-shot bid with a proposal to give $1,000 a month in cash to every American, saying the payments will shield workers from the pain of certain job losses caused by automation. The idea has helped him win unexpected support and even muscle out some better-known candidates from the debate stages.
His proposal is not too far off from one by U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination, who has a proposal to give up to $500 a month to working families.
Stockton, once known as the foreclosure capital of the country and for one of the nation's largest municipal bankruptcies, is a step ahead of both candidates. In February, the city launched the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, a pilot program spearheaded by a new mayor and financed in part by the nonprofit led by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. The city chose 125 people who earned at or below the city's median household income of $46,033. They get the money on a debit card on the 15th of each month.
"I think poverty is immoral, I think it is antiquated and I think it shouldn't exist," said Michael Tubbs, the city's 29-year-old Democratic mayor.
Tubbs' personal story includes a cousin who was killed, a father who is in prison and a mother who, as a teenager, raised him with the help of multiple jobs. He found his way to Stanford University and public service, where he persuaded his beleaguered city to sign on to the provocative idea.
Stockton residents, who have elected Republican mayors for 16 of the past 22 years, were skeptical, worried about encouraging people not to work. Tubbs said he calmed their fears by noting the money came from private donations, not taxpayer dollars.
"I would tell people all that time that would be upset or would call angry, I would say, well, I'm just as angry as you are, but I'm angry about the problem. I'm not angry about possible solutions," Tubbs said.