The hundreds of St. Louis families currently receiving monthly, no-strings-attached payments from the city are going to have to make do without that money, at least for now, a judge has ruled.
St. Louis City Circuit Judge Joseph Patrick Whyte wrote yesterday that “there is a strong public interest in temporarily halting the distribution of funds” as the court sorts out whether payments under the city’s Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program violate the law.
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Mayor Tishaura Jones signed the program into law in December 2022; applications opened the following October. Funded by $5 million of federal COVD relief money, the pilot program began dispersing payments in December 2023. Jones’ spokesman Conner Kerrigan says that 540 families are currently enrolled.
“The City of St. Louis will follow the judge’s order,” Jones said in a statement this morning. “We are exploring our legal options, and my administration continues to find every avenue possible to support the families of St. Louis City.”
In June, city residents Greg Tumlin and Fred Hale filed suit to stop the program, arguing that both the Missouri Constitution and the city’s charter prohibit the government from giving public money to private individuals. The lawsuit is supported by the nonprofit Holy Joe Society, a collection of attorneys who bill themselves as working on behalf of those “adversely impacted by activities deemed inconsistent with good governance” in St. Louis.
The attorney on the case, Kimberly Mathis, has argued that the program’s $1.9 million cost to date is substantially different from other ways in which the city doles out money, such as by exempting developers from taxes.
Mathis and Deputy City Counselor Andrew Wheaton have faced off in court twice in the past two weeks. The most pressing issue was Mathis’ request that Judge Whyte issue a temporary restraining order to stop the payments immediately as the suit works its way through the courts. Mathis argued this was necessary because once the money was dispersed, the city couldn’t claw it back.
Wheaton countered that issuing such an order so quickly would be an “extraordinary remedy” that would disrupt the lives of the families who have come to rely on the money as part of their household budgeting.
In his order yesterday, Whyte agreed with Mathis, writing that $220,000 in financial assistance was scheduled to be sent within 10 business days of July 11. “These payments, once made, would be nearly impossible to recover,” Whyte wrote.
Other pending questions for Judge Whyte include whether the $500 payments are a public good and if Tumlin and Hale have standing to sue over the matter in the first place. Mathis has argued the payments are not a public good for St. Louis because the money is going to individuals who are in no way bound to spend it in the city itself.
And Mathis argues her clients have standing to bring the case because they are city taxpayers. But Wheaton argued that isn’t sufficient basis to sue because the pilot program is funded by federal money, not city taxes. “The plaintiffs in this case simply have no standing,” Wheaton said on Monday, arguing the judge ought to dismiss the suit because of it.
It will likely take months for Whyte to sort through those questions—even as the $500 payments remain on hold.
In communications about the program, the mayor’s office has stressed that the money is not meant as a substitute for a job, but is instead a “financial floor” that gives people enough stability to re-enter the workforce. To be eligible, recipients need to have a child or dependent under 18 enrolled in the city public schools, have a household income less than 170 percent the federal poverty level, and have been adversely affected by the pandemic.
Universal basic income programs have become a growing source of experimentation by governments and researchers who hope to combat poverty and address the way automation and artificial intelligence will likely claim many jobs in the years to come. Presidential candidate Andrew Yang wanted to give every American $1,000 each month.
At Monday’s hearing, Holy Joe Society members Robert Dierker and Bevis Schock, both sporting tan suits, sat in the front row of the hearing as Mathis and Wheaton made their arguments.
This story has been updated with a statement from the mayor.
