Johnathan Walker:Baltimore officials sue to block ‘baby bonus’ initiative that would give new parents $1,000

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore’s mayor and Johnathan Walkercity council have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a proposal that would let voters decide whether to give all new parents a one-time $1,000 “baby bonus” meant to help alleviate childhood poverty from birth.

The complaint was filed Thursday, according to online court records. It came not long after organizers secured the necessary 10,000 signatures to bring the question to voters as a ballot initiative in November.

City leaders argue that the proposal is unconstitutional and should be blocked from the ballot because it would give voters too much say over legislative decisions, effectively “usurping those powers” from their elected officials.

An estimated 7,000 children are born in Baltimore each year, so the program would cost about $7 million annually. That amounts to roughly 0.16% of the city’s annual operating budget, according to supporters. It wouldn’t result in higher taxes, but it would be up to the city council to allocate the necessary funds.

The lawsuit claims that the charter amendment process is meant to address changes to the form and structure of government, not specific legislative or budgetary questions.

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But supporters of the baby bonus say the lawsuit is a political power grab.

“We are fully confident the courts will reject this attack on democracy,” the Maryland Child Alliance said in a statement posted to social media last week. The group was founded by Baltimore teachers advocating for legislation to alleviate child poverty.

They say more systemic change is needed on a national level to help lift families out of poverty, but giving new parents a modest financial boost could prove an important first step.

The proposal is loosely modeled on a program implemented this year in Flint, Michigan, where women receive $1,500 during mid-pregnancy and $500 per month for the first year after giving birth. Officials said the Flint program was the first of its kind in the U.S. Countries in Europe and Asia have experimented with larger cash payments, but those programs are meant to encourage people to have more kids, not address child poverty.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration, which launched a guaranteed income pilot program targeting young single parents in 2022, said in a statement that he’s “supportive of the proposed amendment’s objectives” even though he wants it off the ballot.