The James S. McDonnell Foundation announced this morning that they have stepped in to privately fund St. Louis’ Guaranteed Basic Income program after a judge ordered it halted in July.
Signed into law by Mayor Tishaura Jones in December 2022, the program was designed to provide 540 low-income families in the city with a $500 check every month, no strings attached. To qualify for the money, a family had to have a household income of less than 170 percent of the federal poverty level as well as a child enrolled in a public school in the city.
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The checks started going out in December 2023. But six months later, a pair of city residents represented by a group of gadfly attorneys, the Holy Joe Society, sued to stop it, arguing that direct payments were barred by city charter and state law. In July, a judge ordered a halt to the monthly payments while the suit works its way through court.
Earlier this month, Jones’ spokesman Conner Kerrigan told SLM that the city had secured private funding and that two months’ worth of payments had already gone out to the families: $500 for October and $500 for September. Kerrigan would not say who was bankrolling the program.
The foundation identified itself as the program’s new benefactor, along with other local private funders, in a press release this morning. Named for the aviation pioneer and founder of the McDonnell Douglas aerospace company, the foundation has recently made St. Louis its focus, with goals of promoting inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the region.
The press release indicates that in addition to wanting to support low-income families, the foundation was motivated to bolster the program so that they could gather data related to the cash payment program. These programs, often referred to by the umbrella term “universal basic income,” have been talked about for decades (Richard Nixon was a fan), but began being talked about more seriously during the 2020 presidential campaign of Democrat Andrew Yang. Still, their implementation at any sort of scale remains relatively rare.
“Our focus is on ensuring that families receive the resources promised to them and that the program can continue to gather valuable data on how [Guaranteed Basic Income] might contribute to St. Louis’s economic growth,” the foundation’s president, Jason Q. Purnell, said in a statement. “Our priorities are the well-being of these local families and the insights that could emerge to inform more inclusive growth strategies.”
The foundation says they are committed to funding the program through December 2024. There is currently no court date set in the lawsuit challenging the city’s program.
Editor’s note: Due to an error in a press release, a previous version of this story referred incorrectly to how long the foundation is committed to funding the program. They will be funding it through December 2024, not the following year. We regret the error.
