A Universal Basic Income (UBI) initiative for Hudson has been announced: the HudsonUP initiative is a partnership between the Spark of Hudson, Andrew Yang’s Humanity Forward non-profit, and the Hudson Mayor’s Office, under which twenty Hudson residents will receive $500 per-month for five years.
The Spark of Hudson and Humanity Forward contributed $300,000 each to the initiative. The press releases notes that “Hudson has an estimated population of approximately 6,000 residents, with a median household income of $35,439 and poverty rate of 19.2%…[making] Hudson an ideal host city for a UBI pilot program.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a fierce advocate of UBI, took to Twitter to share the announcement:
I’m excited to announce @HumanityForward’s first long-term UBI pilot, based in Hudson, NY. Special thanks to @SparkofHudson and the community of Hudson for collaborating on this effort. Let’s rewrite the rules & humanize our economy 👍 https://t.co/MCViD3ziAN
— Andrew Yang🧢🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) May 11, 2020
The announcement was also covered by New York Daily News online.
The Spark of Hudson is a learning and training center set to launch in Hudson, NY dedicated to reinventing education. In addition to The Spark of Hudson and HudsonUP, Wenger and Danziger have launched and funded a variety of other projects to better the greater Hudson community and beyond.
Humanity Forward is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization founded by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang. The organization is dedicated to continuing the movement inspired by Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign and to making its core ideas a reality, one of which includes UBI.