Albuquerque uses weed tax to fund 'no-strings-attached' guaranteed income, sparking policy debate

Albuquerque city leaders are touting the results of a controversial taxpayer-funded guaranteed basic income (GBI) pilot program, asserting that direct, monthly cash injections have significantly stabilized struggling households.During a Friday press conference, Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers emphasized that the city is making history by operating one of the few GBI initiatives in the country funded directly via municipal tax dollars.Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller noted that while the vast majority of similar programs across the United States rely heavily on private philanthropic grants, Albuquerque carved out a different path.

The program was entirely financed through the city’s recreational-use cannabis tax and distributed via the Marijuana Equity and Community Reinvestment Fund.Albuquerque is part of a small but aggressive cohort of municipalities shifting the burden of guaranteed income onto local taxpayers.Austin, Texas, previously made headlines as the first major city in the Lone Star State to commit $1.1 million in taxpayer funds alongside $500,000 in philanthropic donations to bankroll its own pilot program, which has since faced intense state-level challenges.SOME BLACK NEW YORKERS DEMAND CASH PAYMENTS AS ONLY 'TRUE FORM OF JUSTICE'Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.

(Sam Wasson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)These local initiatives emerged after Americans in more than 100 cities received localized guaranteed income through private donations and temporary federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.As those federal dollars dried up, mayors in cities like Evanston, Illinois, Newark, New Jersey, and Salem, Massachusetts, pushed to codify these pilots into permanent public policy—following suit with Illinois' Cook County, which became the first local government to establish a permanent, budget-allocated GBI program.According to local reports from KRQE News 13, participating families universally expressed a critical need for the cash assistance.

Mayor K...