Arizona Republicans call basic income payments 'unearned,' introduce a bill to ban them

• Republican lawmakers in Arizona have introduced a bill to ban guaranteed basic income programs.
• The bill would ban any county or municipality from offering "unearned" payments to residents.

Republican lawmakers in Arizona are joining a chorus of conservatives across the country trying to ban basic income programs, which offer residents no-strings-attached payments.

Arizona state lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban any municipality or county from making payments to a person as part of a guaranteed basic income program. The law, House Bill 2375, describes a "guaranteed income program" as any program where someone receives payments that are "unearned" and can be used for any reason.

Numerous cities across the country are experimenting with guaranteed basic income programs either through local initiatives or nonprofits. The programs typically provide monthly payments of $500 to $1,000 to low-income residents or families to spend however they want.

In Denver, for example, a basic income program that gives some people up to $1,000 a month was recently extended after participants reported increased housing security.

Basic income programs have grown in popularity in recent years, spurred by a housing affordability crisis, a rising number of homeless people, fallout from the pandemic, and worries that AI will replace many jobs.

Most of these programs differ from the $1,000 a month universal basic income that former presidential candidate and businessman Andrew Yang campaigned on in 2016. In a universal basic income program, the government would supply everyone with a baseline payment. The guaranteed basic income programs sprouting up around the country, meanwhile, target specific segments of the population.

Guaranteed basic income programs are less politically fraught than a universal basic income, though they aren't without critics.

The sponsor of the bill in Arizona, Rep. Lupe Diaz, a Republican, has compared a guaranteed income to socialism, according to the Arizona Mirror. When speaking about the bill on Wednesday, Diaz specifically singled out a 2022 Phoenix area program that used federal COVID-19 funds to give 1,000 low-income families $1,000 a month for a year, according to the outlet.

The Phoenix City Council used $12 million of federal relief funds for the program, according to the Phoenix New Times. Families needed to earn less than 80% of the area's median income of $63,200 to qualify, according to the report.

Other places, like Harris County, Texas — which includes Houston — have also used COVID-19 funds for guaranteed basic income programs. The Texas state attorney general is weighing the constitutionality of that program after a Republican state lawmaker challenged it in January.

Republican lawmakers elsewhere are also pushing back. Lawmakers in Iowa called basic income programs “socialism on steroids” while introducing a bill similar to Arizona's that would ban such programs in the state. South Dakota is also considering a similar bill.

Arizona state Rep. John Gillette, another Republican supporting the bill, argued that guaranteed basic income programs “rob one to pay the other” and could hurt already established social safety nets, according to the Arizona Mirror.

The Arizona bill is scheduled to be read in the legislature again on Thursday.