18th Annual Congress, June 15-16, 2019

The 18th Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress was held June 15-16, 2019 at the Silberman School of Social Work (SSSW) of the Hunter College in New York City.

The 2019 NABIG Congress is FREE. Conference Program (pdf update 6.12.19)

Major Theme: Basic Income on the Policy Agenda

Organized by the U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network, Basic Income Canada, and SSSW Associate Professor Michael A. Lewis, this year’s Congress will bring together researchers, activists, policymakers and students from around North America and the world who focus on universal basic income guarantee (BIG) on the policy agenda. This year marks fifty years since a basic income guarantee was first introduced in the U.S. Congress. Basic income is once again on the policy agenda in North America. Pilot programs, controlled trials, documentaries, and debates are bringing basic income into mainstream policy conversations. The 2019 NABIG Congress will discuss ways to implement and finance basic income policy in the U.S. and Canada, alternative and complementary policies such as conditional cash transfers, a federal job guarantee, as well as the politics of getting basic income on the agenda of political parties, social movements, and legislatures.

Speakers included:

• • Andrew Yang, author of The War on Normal People (via teleconference)

• • Karl Widerquist, Georgetown University, Qatar

• • Sukhi Samra, Stockton Basic Income Demonstration Project

• • James Janeiro, Senior Policy Advisor to former Ontario Premier

• • Michael A. Lewis, Hunter College

• • Michael Howard, University of Maine, USBIG

• • Almaz Zelleke, New York University, Shanghai

• • Sheila Regehr, Basic Income Canadian Network

• • Peter Frase, author of Four Futures: Life after Capitalism

• • Jessie Golem, photographer “Humans of Basic Income”