On the heels of a first-of-its-kind program in Santa Clara County, legislation is being proposed to expand universal basic income for transitioning foster youth statewide with plenty of support in the tech community.
Gisele Huff is President of the Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity and the mother of Gerald Huff, who passed of pancreatic cancer at 54-years-old and was a principle software engineer for Tesla’s Model 3 car.
"(He) was a techie his whole life and was very concerned about technological unemployment," Gisele Huff said of her son. "You know, 'The robots are coming.'"
Gerald Huff was a believer in the need for universal basic income as a transitional solution to provide a floor under which no one could fall.
"He convinced me after being a lifelong libertarian to think in other ways about how society should work," she said.
She worked closely with then supervisor Dave Cortese on the pilot program for transitioning foster youth in Santa Clara County, and she is thrilled that now as a State Senator, he has introduced legislation for UBI for foster youth at the state level.
"Incredible because the next step is the federal government," she said.
Under the proposed program, the nearly 3,000 transitioning foster youth would receive direct cash payments of $1,000 per month for three years.
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