(NewsNation) — A group of Democratic lawmakers from 17 states is hoping to garner support for legislation that would provide recurring cash payments to low-income residents as a way of alleviating poverty in the United States.
The group of 20 Democrats launched “Legislators for a Guaranteed Income” this week. The newly formed group will partner with a network of 245 mayors and local officials who have attempted to introduce similar pilot programs around the country, according to a news release issued by the group.
The organization said that there are 25 proposed bills across 11 states that are seeking to establish some sort of guaranteed payments to low-income residents. Proposed legislation has been introduced in California, Illinois, Tennessee and North Carolina.
The California bill, introduced by State Sen. Dave Cortese, would provide recurring guaranteed cash payments to homeless teens as they transition into adulthood. The Tennessee bill, which is sponsored by State Rep. Justin Pearson, would offer eligible residents $3,000 per year.
Under the California bill, eligible teens would receive four monthly $1,000 payments as part of a program that would cost $40 million to $50 million, Stateline.org reported.
Despite the cost, Democrats see value in the investment.
Cortese said he believes homeless teens deserve more than a chance to survive, but instead “a real chance to thrive,” Cortese said in a statement issued by the organization.
Other Democrats agreed that those in need would benefit from legislation aimed at cutting down on poverty.
“We need leaders of moral courage who see the world as it is and are ready to fight for a vision of what it can be,” Pearson, the Tennessee Democrat, said in a released statement. “The call for guaranteed income that Dr. (Martin Luther) King put out is being answered today by hundreds of cities and counties across the nation, and I’m proud to expand the movement by joining Legislators for a Guaranteed Income.”
The mayor’s group claims that more Americans are struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living continues to rise. Many of those work multiple jobs, the organization said, and yet more than one in three Americans are considered to be part of the working poor. In addition, 63% of working Americans do not have enough money saved to cover a $500 emergency if needed.
The push for guaranteed income arose after a 2019 experiment in Northern California, where 125 residents received $500 per month for two months. Researchers found that participants saw their financial stability increase after being assisted through the pilot program, Stateline.org reported.
“The work-around guaranteed income is moving from cities and counties to states,” Michael Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton, Calif., where the experiment took place, told the online news organization. “We’re going to be organizing state officials across the country who see what we all see: that affordability is an issue, that the Trump tariffs and gross mismanagement of the economy has made the problem even worse.”
Yet, as Democrats push to gain support for more legislation to assist low-income residents, Republicans argue that those types of legislation encourage those people not to work.
“If you get people addicted to just getting a check from the government, it’s going to be really hard to take that away,” former South Dakota Republican State Sen. John Wiik told Stateline.org.
