“In an effort to assist the city’s struggling arts community in bouncing back from the pandemic, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced last week that she’d be rolling out a cash transfer program for artists,” writes Christian Britschgi in Tuesday’s (10/13) Reason.com. “Under the mayor’s plan, 130 artists in the city will receive a $1,000 monthly cash stipend for a period of six months starting early next year. It’s one of several arts-themed policies sourced from the city’s Economic Recovery Task Force final report released last Thursday, which also includes funding for ‘artists to paint murals with a public health theme on boarded-up businesses and deploy performance artists to promote COVID-safe behaviors in high-foot-traffic areas.’ … The proposal is drawing both interest and criticism from UBI [Universal Basic Income] advocates…. The COVID-19 pandemic is generating increased interest in UBI as a more streamlined way of providing assistance to those in need. Included in the coronavirus relief bill passed in March was a $1,200 cash payment to all legal residents making $75,000 or less…. Breed announced last week a host of other policies intended to help the city recover from the pandemic.”
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