The best of intentions aren’t enough to turn a bad policy into a good one.
In Austin, the City Council is moving forward with a plan to give 85 families roughly $1,000 a month for a year to use in any way they want, a $1 million, taxpayer-funded experiment in providing a guaranteed income to people who are on the verge of losing their homes.
We’ve seen this approach before and don’t question that cash can help a person in crisis. During the heights of the pandemic, millions of Americans benefited from eviction moratoriums and federal stimulus checks. Some families paid down debt and saved some money. But as moratoriums and emergency checks end, and as housing costs soar and inflation shreds paychecks, eviction filings and financial stress are rising again.
