What Happened A Year After LA Launched Its First Cash Assistance Program (And Other Headlines)

Back in 2021, the city of L.A. launched the application process for a guaranteed basic income pilot program called Big: Leap. Low-income Angelenos, including undocumented people, who qualified had an opportunity to receive $1,000 a month with absolutely no strings attached.

How the Big: Leap pilot program impacted Angelenos

Out of the more than 50,000 people who applied to the program, 3,200 families were accepted via a lottery. Now with the pilot program concluded, one huge question remains:

How did receiving an extra income impact the participants’ lives?

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are working on a final analysis of Big: Leap’s successes and failures, which is expected next year. But before we get those results, my LAist colleagues Marina Peña and Monica Bushman reported on five of the participants in the program. They kept in touch with them over the course of the year to find out how the initiative was working (and not working) for them.

For many, the extra $1,000 a month helped pay for rent, their children’s school expenses and job training programs as they faced the economic stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic. The money also helped some undocumented Angelenos start their immigration process for permanent residence.

“There was a little more peace of mind in my household because we had a little more money for our expenses,” Big: Leap participant Alfoncina Hernandez said. “I’m really happy that I was able to start immigration process. Hopefully once I have my work permit, I’ll be able to find a more stable job.”

There’s research out there to suggest that guaranteed income programs do help people achieve financial stability. One of the bigger criticisms, though, is that it's hard to adjust to life without the extra income once it goes away. A few participants in L.A.’s program acknowledged that challenge, but all agreed they were grateful for the opportunities Big: Leap provided.

Read Marina and Monica’s profiles on these five families and learn what could be next for these types of cash assistance programs in Southern California. Also, How to LA podcast host Brian De Los Santos spent time with one couple who was able to start a bakery business on the side thanks to the extra income, and discusses the pros and cons of guaranteed income programs, like Big: Leap. You can listen here.

There’s more news below — just keep reading.

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(After you stop hitting snooze)

• On Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told Airtalk’s Larry Mantle that she will deliver a progress report on her homelessness initiative, Inside Safe, in two weeks. This comes weeks after my colleague Nick Gerda reported that transparency reports on the progress of the initiative were missing. 
• Transformative Climate Communities is a state program that is providing underserved, low-income communities a chance for a greener future. My colleague Erin Stone wrote about the program and how it is impacting Pacoima, Watts and Ontario, some of L.A.’s most historically underserved areas. 
• A month into the Writers Guild of America strike, the union is shifting its focus to the people who run Netflix and Comcast, writing pleas to their shareholders who pay the executives. My colleague John Horn has more on this update. 
• Justine Bateman is not only an actress. She’s a writer, director and producer and, to her, without a new agreeable contract for writers, the future doesn’t look so bright. Listen to her interview with LAist on what she fears could be upcoming for the film and TV industry. 
• Eva Longoria’s feature directorial debut Flamin’ Hot and Julio Torres’ Problemista will be headlining the 22nd annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) now through June 4. Public school students nationwide will also have an opportunity to showcase their films throughout the festival through the Youth Cinema Project. 
• After State Farm announced it will not insure California homes, the state promises that homeowners will not lose coverage. The news comes as California battles wildfires, drought, flooding and other natural calamities. 
• As renters struggle to keep up with too-high housing costs, state lawmakers are mulling a plan to put a cap on high security deposits, which can often amount to thousands of dollars. 
• If you’re worried about your children and their video games usage, you might want to read the latest article from NPR’s Yuki Noguchi. Did you know that there are some benefits to playing video games? 
• Not to scare you, but the idea that artificial intelligence could take over human beings’ existence is not just science fiction anymore. AI experts are now calling for limits to be placed on AI systems’ power globally.

Wait! One more thing...

Inside the Russian banquet halls scene

A birthday celebration at EuroAsia, a Russian-speaking banquet hall in Encino.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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Imagine this: long tables full of pickled appetizers (called zakusky), steaming boiled potatoes and chicken Kiev ... and vodka. Let’s not forget the vodka.

There’s folk songs and dancing. There’s a shared heritage in Los Angeles.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, we’re going to take a step inside L.A.’s Russian banquet halls, with LAist writer Diana Ruzova.

Banquet halls give Angelenos with Russian heritage in L.A. an opportunity to indulge in Soviet nostalgia, especially during a time of hardship overseas with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Diana, whose family came to the country as Soviet-Jewish refugees, shares with us why these places have been so important in her life, and educates us about the banquet halls in San Fernando Valley that are still successfully standing, even after the pandemic, inflation and the ongoing war.

Here’s an excerpt about her childhood, growing up in one of L.A.’s Russian enclaves:

“We were part of a vibrant community surrounded by Russian-speaking markets selling tarragon soda and rye kvass, bakeries with steaming arm-length pirozhki, and the Plummer Park Community Center where I went to preschool. We celebrated birthdays, engagements, weddings, anniversaries and even wakes at Russian-speaking banquet halls.”

Learn about the three banquet halls that are currently thriving in San Fernando Valley here.