(DailyDig.com) – Democrats in Minnesota have been seeking a statewide $500 basic income guarantee for eligible people in the state. The bill, HF 2666, was introduced to give monthly payments of $500 for a period between 18 months and two years.
The goal of this legislation will be to build wealth, disrupt poverty, support the basic needs of the recipient, and advance equity. The eligible individuals or families will be at or under three hundred percent of the poverty level in the federal statistics. The House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee approved the bill on March 12. A one-time appropriation of $100 million from the general fund of Minnesota in FY 2025 would fund the program.
St. Paul tested a smaller program by giving a $500 monthly payment to spend as they wished to 150 residents of the city for just over one year. Currently, Minneapolis, the twin city of St. Paul, has developed its own program to test the feasibility of a similar monthly payment. It began in June 2022 and will end in June 2024. They also allow the recipients to spend the money however they choose.
A University of Pennsylvania study showed that the money given without conditions enforced economic mobility, improving the recipient’s financial health, and giving them a renewed appreciation of themselves.
Athena Hollins, a Democrat State Representative who authored HF 2666, believes in the importance of the bill being extended to undocumented individuals. She spoke about St. Paul’s program, and some recipients moved out of the city but still received their payments. The program ran from October 2020 to April 2022, and the income was a “no-strings-attached” guarantee.
Republican State Representative Walter Hudson, a critic of the bill, states that it prohibits recipients from giving any income proof, citizenship, residency in Minnesota, or any information regarding their identity. This would enable people to fraudulently claim who they are, even if they are an illegal immigrant, as no documentation is required.
Hudson told the news media that the bill would encourage fraud without the possibility of prosecution.
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