Title
Resolution to Approve an ARPA Subrecipient Grant Agreement with Regents of the University of Michigan for Research and Administration of the Ann Arbor Guaranteed Income Pilot Program in the amount of $1,600,000
Memorandum
In April of 2022, City Council approved the allocation of ARPA funds through Resolution R-22-096. In that resolution, a total of $1.6 million ($1,600,000) was dedicated to a universal basic income pilot. Since that time, staff has worked to research and develop a project scope, competitively bid an RFP to determine the best contractor, and now recommends the award of the contract to Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.
The city made several decisions around this guaranteed income pilot that set it apart from similar programs implemented nationally. First, we knew that we wanted to leave something meaningful for other cities or organizations to pick up on and build upon when this program was over. With that in mind, we chose to design the program so that academically rigorous social science concerning the nature of poverty and the impacts of guaranteed income would be one of the results of our work. In service of that goal, we asked RFP respondents to propose a novel research question or questions for study to expand our understanding of the utility and importance of these projects. Many organizations nationally produce research on their guaranteed income initiatives, but it is low-level survey research, and it does not reach the standard of peer-reviewable social science. In addition, we wanted an outside agency to serve as the fiscal agent for the disbursement of funds. This is to facilitate a more cost-efficient program, that is easier for program participants to use generally but especially if they are unbanked.
The proposal from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan met these requirements. They are proposing to administer the funds directly to program recipients through a partnership with Steady, a company tha...
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