© Rich Pedroncelli/The Associated PressA woman displays a city-provided debit card she receives monthly through a trial program in Stockton, Calif., in 2019. That year, Stockton launched a basic income experiment that has set off a major expansion of such programs across the country. Research has shown basic income programs can boost employment and health, but GOP lawmakers in some states are pushing back on the concept of free cash
Basic income advocates say the concept is an effective way of reducing poverty.
South Dakota state Sen. John Wiik likes to think of himself as a lookout of sorts — keeping an eye on new laws, programs and ideas brewing across the states.
"I don't bring a ton of legislation," said Wiik, a Republican. "The main thing I like to do is try and stay ahead of trends and try and prevent bad things from coming into our state."
This session, that meant
sponsoring successful legislation banning cities or counties from creating basic income programs, which provide direct, regular cash payments to low-income residents to help alleviate poverty.
While Wiik isn't aware of any local governments publicly floating the idea in South Dakota, he describes
such programs as "bureaucrats trying to hand out checks to make sure that your party registration matches whoever signed the checks for the rest of your life."
Comment: While there's a lot to be said for giving the struggling families the help they may need to make life bearable, and we have no doubt that there may be some good intentions involved here, these policies are being brought to the public by the same party that will likely demand the most totalitarian controls in the way of health mandates, behavioral control and the use of their free money through CBDC's.