Down Angle Icon An angle-shaped icon pointing downwards. A basic income program in central Iowa says people mostly spend the $500 monthly payments on food. Jacob Boomsma/Shutterstock
- Iowa recently passed a law prohibiting local governments from offering basic income programs.
- But one that provides $500 a month to low-income residents says it will continue to use private funds.
- Most participants said they spent the money on food and housing during the first year.
Iowa conservatives voted earlier this year to ban local governments from sponsoring basic income programs. But one program in the center of the state says it is seeing successful results and will continue.
The “UpLift” program in central Iowa provides up to $500 a month to 110 low-income residents. Although the legislation could threaten its future, its organizers say it will continue, for now, to use private financing. They said the program is showing similar results to other basic income programs across the country: Residents primarily spend the money on food and shelter.
Ashley Ezzio, senior project coordinator at the Tom and Ruth Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, which is conducting the study, told The Des Moines Register that most participants spend the money on essentials.
A study of the program, which began last May, found that food and groceries accounted for about 42% of costs in the first year, Ezzio said.
Uplift tracks spending categories and asks participants to take regular surveys through the University of Pennsylvania and Des Moines University. About 80% of participants completed the first survey, Uplift said.
Last month, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that prohibits county and city governments from offering basic income programs. State Rep. Steve Holthave called for the bans, calling basic income programs “socialism on steroids” and “an attack on American values.”
Guaranteed basic income programs typically offer no-strings-attached monthly payments of between $500 and $1,000 to specific groups, such as new moms, Black women or trans people, all low-income residents. They differ from their idealistic cousin: universal basic income. The UBI, made famous by Andrew Yang during the 2016 presidential election, would provide a monthly payment to all citizens.
UpLift’s findings in Iowa mirror those of basic income programs across the country.
In Austin, one study found that residents in a program that received monthly payments of $1,000 for a year spent the cash without strings attached primarily on housing and food.
Still, conservatives in Texas are also rejecting such programs. The state Supreme Court temporarily blocked a Houston-area program in April that gave low-income residents $500 a month after the state attorney general called it “unconstitutional.”
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