Mayors Push Guaranteed Income Programs as Federal Pandemic Aid Expires

As federal pandemic relief funds approach their final spending deadline, more than a hundred American cities find themselves at a crossroads — having built cash assistance programs on temporary money, they must now decide whether these experiments become permanent fixtures of local governance. The Economic Securities Project, drawing on data from over 250 pilots across 40 states, argues that direct cash transfers are most powerful not as universal entitlements but as targeted support during life's most vulnerable transitions. In an era of rising costs and fraying safety nets, the question thes