Universal basic income, or UBI for short, first gained prominence as an idea from the perennial independent Andrew Yang, who championed this cause during his 2020 presidential run as not only a way to combat poverty, but as “human-centered capitalism.”

The appeal of guaranteed income is understandable, especially in an era of technological disruption: direct cash is flexible, fast and less bureaucratic than traditional aid. But the problem is that guaranteed income, however well-intentioned, requires steady funding, something governments in places like Illinois can’t afford to provide, and the evidence from local pilot programs hasn’t yet shown it meaningfully reduces poverty.

Asked about the concept on the campaign trail, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he’s interested in it, as are many of his supporters. That popularity has reignited interest in the concept. But political enthusiasm doesn’t erase the hard math.

That reality hasn’t stopped some from pressing ahead anyway.

Cook County in 2022 launched an experiment with guaranteed basic income, a good example of government nice-to-haves that sprang out of an influx of federal cash. When asked if he’d follow suit with a statewide version, Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this month said, “No.”

Pritzker rightly recognizes Illinois isn’t in a financial position to dole out statewide nice-to-haves. Of course, Cook County isn’t either, but that ship has sailed.

Cook County’s Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot, which launched using $42 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, gave 3,250 low- to moderate-income families $500 a month in no-strings-attached cash — meaning no work requirements or spending restrictions — for two years. Cook County set aside $7.5 million in its $10.12 billion 2026 budget to carry the guaranteed income program beyond the pilot, becoming one of the first local governments in the country to commit ongoing funding. Officials are now crafting updated eligibility rules and program design, with a final plan expected next year.

The county reported that the pilot program went a long way in offering some basic financial security for things like rent and food. Fair enough. Still, we think it’s important to measure such programs based on their results, and so we find ourselves wondering if the pilot has moved the needle on poverty. That seems unlikely. It served just 3,250 households in a county of more than 5 million people. And, of course, there is the issue of cash not landing where it is supposed to help. As we’ve learned in Minnesota, when free money sloshes around without much in the way of requirements, nefarious parties often start to show interest.

But the biggest problem is that the program is financed by taxpayers without offsetting cuts. The same people hoping to stretch that $500 check are also paying the county’s hefty 10.25% combined sales tax on many essential items, a reminder that government often constrains purchasing power with one hand while offering aid with the other.

While governments across Illinois simply can’t afford to spin up guaranteed income programs on a major scale, they can and should look at what they can do to reduce the burden they place on families that contributes to the need for relief in the first place.

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