It's time to raise the Baseline.

The current baseline is too low. It asks people to work harder simply to fall further behind. It manages hardship through fragmented programs instead of ensuring that people have the income and opportunity they need. And it reinforces the idea that financial struggle is an individual problem rather than a shared challenge shaped by wages, costs, public policy, and access to opportunity.

Baseline begins with a different premise: working people know what they need to get by and get ahead. When people have more income, savings, stability, and voice, they can transform their lives—and stronger families create stronger communities.

At Baseline, we believe in people. When people have economic stability and opportunity, they can make choices, pursue their goals, care for their families, and contribute to their communities.

In 2026, Baseline changed its name from Golden State Opportunity. Our experience with refundable tax credits proved that practical, scalable solutions can materially improve people’s lives. But it also showed that access alone is not enough. Programs work only when people know about them, can navigate them, and have trusted help. Benefits endure only when policy protects and expands them. And larger change becomes possible only when the people affected have the organization, relationships, narrative, and political power to shape decisions.

The next phase of our work focuses on four forms of impact: immediate income, lasting financial stability, organized community power, and policy and systems change. Each reinforces the others.

Together, they create a pathway from relief to agency—and from individual opportunity to a stronger economic baseline for all.