Michael Tubbs, who championed guaranteed income in Stockton, to join Newsom administration
Former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, who was among the first elected officials in the nation to champion guaranteed income, will become the special adviser for economic mobility and opportunity for Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In his new role, Tubbs said he will work with Newsom and other local elected leaders to pilot innovative policies throughout the state, which could include guaranteed income. He wants to ensure that the communities in inland California such as Stockton get the attention they deserve, as well as bolster efforts to address systemic racism in state policies, he said.
Newsom’s office made the announcement Thursday, saying Tubbs will help the state and its economy recover more equitably from the coronavirus pandemic.
“From implementing the first mayor-led guaranteed income pilot to launching the Stockton Scholars program to invest in his city’s youth, Tubbs expanded opportunity and hope in his hometown,” Newsom said in a press release. “I can think of no one more dedicated or better equipped to make recommendations to my team and help lead outreach efforts to increase opportunity and entrepreneurship to reduce poverty in California.”
The role, which is unpaid, comes months after Tubbs lost his reelection for mayor in Stockton. He gained a national profile during his term as an advocate for a program that gave $500 a month to 125 residents, no strings attached.
Similar pilot programs for guaranteed income are underway in Compton and Richmond, Virginia.
Tubbs has been leading Mayor for a Guaranteed Income, a coalition of some 40 mayors pushing for direct cash payments to citizens, and has been working as a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. He will continue both of those roles, he said.
Tubbs said his role as Newsom’s adviser will be “a bit of inside and outside.” He will serve on Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors, developing recommendations for anti-poverty policies. He will also work with businesses and officials, such as director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development Dee Dee Myers, to make it easier to do business in the state, he said.
“I’m excited about a conversation about how do we create a strategy to attract businesses, instead of leaving the state, to (be in the) Inland California,” he said.
Tubbs noted Newsom’s administration doesn’t have a stance on guaranteed income. Still, he said the state could build off of its $600 stimulus it’s giving out to low-income Californians. He also could see himself working with legislators on advancing laws, he said, although he remains critical of any bill that would remove social safety net programs in lieu of guaranteed income.
Tubbs said he also wants to see if other anti-poverty measures he championed in Stockton, such as college scholarships and local and federal investment to boost underserved neighborhoods, can be done at a statewide level.
“We should endeavor to end poverty in California,” he said.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, praised the appointment in a statement, saying Stockton’s guaranteed income experiment has seen successes.
“California can use that kind of innovative economic thinking as we attempt to reverse decades of a growing income chasm between the rich and everyone else,” he said.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
