BALTIMORE — Baltimore City voters will have their say on the Baltimore Baby Fund this November.
For math teacher Nate Golden, having seen Baltimore's child poverty up close, he says something had to be done.
Voters to decide on ‘Baltimore Baby Fund’ this November
"We've been working on this for over three years; it's something we're really passionate about," Golden, founder of the Maryland Child Alliance, told WMAR-2 News.
Golden backed what was first called the Baltimore Baby Bonus, getting signatures to put a charter amendment on the ballot. The effort has since undergone a rebrand as the Baltimore Baby Fund, with more discretion baked in for city leaders to decide how the help comes.
"It creates a fund with a broad goal of helping parents with newborns, but it leaves the details of the implementation to the mayor and the city council," Golden told WMAR-2 News.
It could take the form of assistance such as cash payments, childcare subsidies, or diapers for new parents, Golden explained, but the ballot measure won't be locked in at $1,000 each as in the original proposal.
In 2024, Mayor Brandon Scott fought to keep the first try off the ballot, and the Maryland Supreme Court agreed, saying it wasn't 'proper charter material.' Now, after meeting with the group, Scott is backing the new measure, viewing it as a natural evolution of his administration's guaranteed income pilot.
"I don't want to make any promises, but it seems like us and the mayor are on the same page," Golden added. "The mayor is the co-chair of the Mayors for Guaranteed Income; he's a believer in cash payments. He's run a pilot in the city that has shown pretty incredible results. So it seems like the stars are aligning where everyone's on the same page where we can expect parents in the city to get cash to make sure they are getting help at the most pivotal time of their child's life."
The measure would be a new, separate fund, taking three cents for every $100 in taxable property value in the city.
"I really do think the research shows that if we can get direct resources into the hands of parents, it can really be an important use of the funds," Golden said.
The measure will go on the ballot as Question 1, and city voters will decide whether it becomes enshrined in the charter on Tuesday, November 3.
"Getting to this point of being on the ballot, and letting the voters decide, it's really exciting for us, but the works not done," Golden said.
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