Whatever the outcome, the spread of basic income programs is a reminder of the growing divide between Democrats and Republicans, urban voters and rural conservatives, those who want more government in people’s lives and those who want less.
“There’s no indication that I see that the American public thinks what we really need is more aid to people who choose not to work,” said Robert Rector, a conservative public assistance expert at the Heritage Foundation who helped shape the welfare changes of the 1990s.
But in Democratic cities, in states deep blue and bright red, such as Columbia, S.C., Shreveport, La., and Birmingham, Ala., political leaders are moving in the opposite direction. Mayor Lightfoot may be in the throes of a difficult campaign for re-election, but none of her eight rivals for the Democratic mayoral nomination ahead of the first round of voting on Feb. 28 have made an issue of her guaranteed income effort.
Instead, the mayor is picking a fight with the national Republican Party.
“These are the same people that didn’t want to expand health care, and look at the number of people in their communities, these ruby red communities, that are suffering,” Ms. Lightfoot said. “These are the same people, frankly, that are attacking the very core of our democracy, demonizing being different, being the other, based upon your religion, your creed, who you love, your gender identity.”
She added: “I’m the mayor of the city of Chicago. I know what our people need.”
Adrian Talbott, associate dean for civic engagement at the Crown Family School of Social Work at the University of Chicago, called the effort “a prime example of Democrats’ assertion that government can work.” He added that the expectation was, “with big bets on behalf of traditionally marginalized, vulnerable populations in light of the pandemic, government can meet this moment.”
“For Chicago and Cook County,” Mr. Talbott continued, “guaranteed basic income is the tip of the spear.”
The income cutoff for Chicago and Cook County is forgiving, 250 percent of the federal poverty level — $36,450 a year for an individual, $75,000 for a family of four — though acceptance was weighted toward certain groups such as homeless people, veterans and caregivers.
