A group of Democratic lawmakers wants to test a new kind of social safety net: a monthly paycheck provided by the federal government to spend however you want.
New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman said she is reintroducing a bill to establish a three-year guaranteed basic income pilot program that would offer a cohort of Americans across the country a no-strings-attached monthly payment — enough to cover rent for a two-bedroom home.
"Events like the Coronavirus Pandemic, economic fluctuations, and increasing automation and job losses threaten to wipe out what little savings they have, to finally push them to homelessness, to reinforce the fact that in the wealthiest nation in the world, too many families are just a single mishap away from financial devastation," Watson Coleman said in a press release.
The legislation is called the Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act of 2025. A guaranteed basic income is when the government distributes recurring and unrestricted payments to a certain demographic. It differs from a universal basic income, which would provide payments to an entire population. Many US cities have already experimented with guaranteed basic income programs to varying degrees of success.
According to the bill, which is co-sponsored by nine other lawmakers, the pilot program would involve 20,000 people between 18 and 65 years old. Of that group, 10,000 would receive monthly payments equal to the "fair market" rent on a two-bedroom home where they live, or a similar amount to be determined by Health and Human Services. The other half would be the control group.
The lawmakers said the proposed basic income would not only insulate Americans from economic instability but also from the potential impact of the AI revolution.
"Increasing automation and advancing AI have the potential to expand human flourishing. However, the concentration of control of those technologies into the hands of a few billionaires may mean the eventual loss of the livelihoods of millions of Americans," the lawmakers said in the press release.
AI leaders such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have long supported the idea of a universal basic income in response to AI. Altman helped fund a large basic income study that ended last year.
Passing such legislation would be a major lift in today's political climate. While Democrats generally support a basic income, some Republicans have criticized the cost of running the programs and raised concerns that it could discourage Americans from working. Some state legislators controlled by Republicans have sought to prevent basic income experiments in their states.
Representatives for Rep. Watson Coleman did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
