A bad idea by any other name is still a bad idea.
Last week, the Dallas City Council floated a plan to give roughly $250 a month for a year to 325 low-income families — a $1 million taxpayer-funded statement in support of the city’s commitment to promote racial equity and reduce poverty. The money is coming from a pot of at least $20 million in sales tax revenue that city officials plan to spend on racial equity-related initiatives.
The pilot is not unlike similar guaranteed income experiments to reduce poverty underway in at least 30 cities, including Austin, Houston and San Antonio in Texas. Los Angeles County’s program will send $1,000 a month to 1,000 residents for three years, and Chicago’s $31.5 million program, funded from pandemic relief dollars, promises to distribute $500 monthly cash payments to 5,000 low-income households for a year.
