Stimulus check update: Applications for direct $500 payments to close on Thursday
Misty Severi
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The applications for a new guaranteed basic income program in Rochester, New York, in which recipients will receive $500 a month, will close just before midnight.
The city of Rochester is launching a pilot guaranteed basic income program that will last for one year for households whose incomes are at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. The program will give recipients a total of $6,000 that’s broken up into 12 $500 installments. Applications for the program opened on Thursday, June 22, and closes a week later, on June 29.
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The new program will select 351 people to receive the benefit. No start date for the program has been released, but participants will be chosen at two different points. The first wave of 175 participants will be chosen in July, and a second round of 176 participants will be selected in September. The recipients will be selected at random, according to the program.
For single-person households, the income cap is $26,973. For two-person households, the maximum income is $36,482. The highest income is $93,536 for households with eight residents. Only one member of the household can receive the monthly installments, according to the program’s website.
Other eligibility requirements include the participant being at least 18. They must also reside in certain areas of Rochester and have been a resident of Rochester for at least one year before applying.
The extra income is considered “unconditional,” according to the program’s website, meaning there are “no strings attached: no work requirements, and no restrictions on how the money can be used.” The recipients can also receive free financial counseling.
The city is using funds it received from the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for the program, which is expected to cost $2.2 million. The city said its hope for the program is to help “determine the impacts of a guaranteed income and influence future policy decisions around broader poverty reduction programs.”
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Rochester residents who do not have access to a computer can use a library computer at a local branch or stop at neighborhood service centers for assistance.
More information on the city’s GBI program can be found here. Interested applicants can view the application here.