House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opens the door to guaranteed income for Americans, saying it's 'worthy of attention'

• Nancy Pelosi opened the door to the idea of a minimum income for Americans.
• "Let's see what works, what is operational and what needs attention," Pelosi said on MSNBC. "Others have suggested a minimum income, a guaranteed income for people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so."
• Several Democratic lawmakers have introduced plans to pay Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi floated the idea of a minimum income for Americans during the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, saying it was "worthy of attention" in an MSNBC interview.

"Let's see what works, what is operational and what needs attention," Pelosi said. "Others have suggested a minimum income, a guaranteed income for people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so."

—MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 27, 2020

She pointed to the chunk of the workforce employed by smaller businesses, saying they "may need some assistance as well."

It's not immediately clear what a guaranteed proposal could look like. Millions of Americans are receiving one-time, $1,200 checks from the federal government as part of a $2.2 trillion stimulus law Congress approved last month. But progressives have argued it's not enough.

Pelosi said in a letter sent to House Democrats earlier this month that Democrats would seek to include "additional direct payments" for families.

Several Democratic lawmakers have introduced proposals to guarantee income for Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. Reps. Ro Khanna and Tim Ryan introduced a plan this month to pay most Americans $2,000 a month without any strings attached — at least until unemployment falls to pre-pandemic levels.

"Let Mitch McConnell say no to it," Ryan recently told Business Insider, referring to the GOP Senate Majority Leader. "Coming with a bold proposal that's really going to speak to the immediate needs of the working class — it lets people know you understand where they are, and helps them. It's a win all the way around."

The prospect of tying direct payments to a decline in unemployment could prove problematic though. After the Great Recession that ended in 2009, it took six years for unemployment to reach pre-recession levels, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

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Unemployment stood at a half-century low of 3.5% in February, and the rate increased to 4.4% last month.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters on Sunday the unemployment rate could skyrocket to levels unseen since the Great Depression, and said it could hit 16%.

"You're going to see numbers as bad as we've ever seen," he said.

That could add a significant hurdle to getting Republicans on board a plan for minimum income. They're increasingly wary of piling more money into another robust federal rescue package after the passage of the expensive stimulus law.

McConnell slammed the brakes on further negotiations on coronavirus aid until lawmakers return to Washington in early May, citing the "extraordinary" national debt of $24 trillion.

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