Austin, Texas has approved a pilot ‘Guaranteed Income’ program joining other liberal cities. The program will give 85 families $1,000 per month for an entire year. The program’s $1.18 million in  funding will be handled by a nonprofit and recipients can spend the money however they wish.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who belongs to a coalition called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, said it will prevent homelessness; it’s not a “giveaway” but rather, “it is investing in ourselves.”

“We can find people moments before they end up on our streets and prevent them, divert them from being there. That would be not only wonderful for them, it would be wise and smart for the taxpayers in the city of Austin because it will be a lot less expensive to divert someone from homelessness than to help them find a home once they’re on our streets,” said Adler.

Atlanta, Georgia also announced it was launching a similar pilot basic income program in January. 300 residents will receive $500 each month for a year. NBC DFW5 reports that “Across the country, dozens of cities and counties — some using money from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package approved in March 2021 — are giving some low-income residents a guaranteed income of $500 to $1,000 each month to do with as they please, and tracking what happens.”

The Mayors coalition will use its data –collected by a University of Pennsylvania-based rrsearch center — to lobby the White House and Congress for a federal guaranteed income.