Senator Wants To Give Low-Income Seniors No-Strings-Attached Checks
Low-income or homeless high school seniors in this state might soon receive no-string-attached checks from a proposed bill.
In true California Democrat fashion, State Senator Dave Cortez is sponsoring a bill that would give high school seniors free money. They will not have to earn it. They will not have to spend it on education, or specific items. It would merely be a payout for students who have experienced homelessness.
This program would cost the state about $85 million a year, and legislators are questioning giving some 15,000 students $1,000 checks every month for a certain period of months for the 2023 graduating class. How this would teach high school seniors to manage that money, care for themselves, or make responsible fiscal decisions is unclear, but California is already in debt and not likely to balance its budget any time soon. Currently, the state owes $13,655 per citizen.
High school seniors are just entering young adulthood. When polled about what classes they think they need which aren’t being taught, over 50% in one survey admitted that “money management” would help them. Financial literacy is being taught in some colleges and is now a graduation requirement in Florida. Instead of improving the California public education system to help students learn how to manage their money, legislators are just considering writing checks to combat homelessness.
A 2018 report concluded that some 11% of California State University students experienced homelessness. The proposed legislation is California politicians’ solution to that. The question that parents and students are asking is: Will this really work?
Some high school seniors are excited about the program. They believe it will help homeless students to survive and focus on their schoolwork. It sounds simple enough, but in truth, the growing homeless crisis in California isn’t just due to recent economic uncertainty. For years now, California’s high taxes and cost of living, as well as the state’s liberal drug laws, and opposition to mandatory mental health treatment for individuals who are severely mentally ill have not only increased homelessness, but with it, human waste in the streets, rats, and even flesh-eating bacteria. Violence has also increased along with homelessness.
California’s socialist democrat policies may be seen as humanitarian efforts by some, but in truth expanded welfare programs have not aided those in need. If anything, they have led to further struggles. The homelessness problem increased as welfare programs expanded. Housing costs went up to cover the bill, and water shortages and blackouts also followed suit to these “generous” social programs. The promise of universal basic income and free college have been hot topics for California democrats, but the more social programs they create, the higher the cost of living goes, and the more people aren’t able to afford to live there. It’s a cycle that doesn’t seem to be ending soon based on this new proposal to give high school seniors free money.
It is programs like the proposed checks for high school seniors that have led to a mass exodus from California. In 2020, before the census results were recorded, so many residents moved away from the state that California lost a congressional seat for the first time in U.S. history. State politicians would be wise to take note and start examining their excessive spending plans. Instead of this, or looking into community outreach options, incentivizing mental health work, or offering bonuses to students who volunteer at rehab facilities, California democrats believe that giving students money, without stipulations, will somehow prepare them for balancing budgets and remedy the situation. Skeptics aren’t convinced.
