The opponents pushing these state bills have argued that the targeted benefits are a waste of taxpayer resources, and that guaranteed income programs may deter people from working.

Since 2018, more than 100 guaranteed income pilots have been proposed or launched in counties and cities across the US. They distribute money at regular intervals to specific populations in need, like low-income residents, or new mothers or homeless youth. Unlike other social safety net programs, they don’t typically ask recipients to meet any conditions in exchange for the money or use it in particular ways. They are also said to be more efficient than other government programs saddled with red tape and administrative burdens.

Now that the programs have proliferated, detractors say they oppose them for many of the same reasons they dislike other safety net programs.

“Proponents of these programs aren’t hiding the ball: The goal is not to replace existing welfare programs, the goal is to expand it,” said Haley Holik, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank Foundation for Government Accountability, whose advocacy arm has backed the majority of the state preemption bills.

South Dakota, Idaho and Iowa all passed laws this session that bar counties or cities in those states from making guaranteed income program payments. Lawmakers in Arizona, Wisconsin and Mississippi advanced similar legislation this session, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Arkansas enacted a law preempting all localities from creating universal basic incomes in 2023; West Virginia legislators introduced a “Work Protection Act” this year that would do the same if passed.

Besides similar language and aims, these bills have something else in common: All have been championed by the Opportunity Solutions Project, the lobbying arm of the Foundation for Government Accountability. The group has a history of fighting to roll back the social safety net: It has opposed Medicaid expansion efforts, advocated for adding work requirements to the Supplemental Assistance Program, and criticized ESG. The Washington Post reported that the group was also behind state legislation relaxing child labor laws.

Adam Gibbs, a spokesperson for the Foundation for Government Accountability, said the organization would support similar guaranteed income bans in the 35 states where it is active.

The majority of the states considering or passing such legislation do not have any guaranteed income programs running, meaning the preemption is truly preventative. But there will be some other short-term impacts: Iowa’s two-year Uplift Iowa pilot, which has been giving 110 low-income residents $500 a month since May 2023, will have to stop using government funding when the law comes into effect in 2025, and rely on private donors for the rest of its run.

“Prohibitions such as these tie the hands of local policymakers and limit the tools available to them to determine how best to serve their communities,” wrote Aditi Shrivastava, the deputy director for Income Security at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in a recent blog post.

South Dakota State Senator John Wiik, who sponsored his state’s preemption legislation, says he was motivated by a concern that supplementing incomes with regular payments would deter people from working. South Dakota has the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country, and 12.5% of the population was living below poverty levels as of 2022. “I don’t pass a ton of bills. I mainly go to the State Capitol to play defense and make good decisions,” he said. “I viewed this as a defense for the future.” Other critics have expressed fears that given free rein, people will spend the extra money on vices.

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