Sacramento, California (AP) —California legislators approved the first state-funded guaranteed income program in the United States on Thursday. It.

Voting 36-0 in the Senate and 64-0 in Congress showed bipartisan support for ideas that are gaining momentum across the country. Dozens of local programs have emerged in recent years, including those funded by the private sector, making it easier for elected civil servants to market their ideas to the public.

California’s plans are funded by taxpayers and may drive other states to follow their initiative.

“Looking at our upbringing youth statistics, they are devastating,” said Senate Republican leader Scott Wilk. “We must do everything we can to cheer up these young people.”

Local governments and organizations apply for funding and run the program. The state social welfare department decides who will get the money. California lawmakers left it up to local government officials to determine monthly payments. This typically ranges from $ 500 to $ 1,000 for existing programs across the country.

Voting is done by millions of parents First monthly payment Under the temporary expansion of federal child tax credits, many see it as a form of guaranteed income.

“Now there is momentum and things are going fast,” said Michael Tubbs, an adviser to Governor Gavin Newsom, who was a pioneer when he started the guaranteed income program as Mayor of Stockton. “The next destination is the federal government.”

For decades, most government-sponsored programs have had strict rules on how money can be spent, usually limiting benefits such as food and housing. But a guaranteed income program gives money to people who have no rules about how to use it. The idea is to reduce the stress of poverty that causes health problems and make it harder for people to find and maintain jobs.

Senator Dave Cortese, a Democrat of San Jose, said: “We are making its population very normative as the state and as the county progresses. Look at the failures. Half of them do not have a high school diploma and others of the same age. It goes without saying that we go on to school like people. “

However, critics such as John Coupal, chairman of the California-based Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association, said the guaranteed income program “wealth from productive individuals to those who may choose not to be productive.” It is said that it is a relocation of. He said that the better use of taxpayers’ money is something else that encourages scholarships or education.

“If you target people who really need it, you’ll feel less discomfort,” he said.

The guaranteed income program dates back to the 18th century. The US government even experimented with them in the 1960s and 1970s during the Nixon administration before they lost their support.

But recently, the guaranteed income program has been revived. The program was announced in New Orleans. Oakland, CA; Tacoma, WA; Gainesville, Florida; Los Angeles — the second largest city in the United States, with plans to offer $ 1,000 per month to 2,000 poor families.

The state wants to fund a program that helps pregnant women and young adults who do not have foster care to move on to their own lives. The latter includes people like Naira de Jesus, who were removed from custody of their mother at the age of 17 and went back and forth between life with their aunts, godfathers and boyfriends until they landed on the provisional housing program.

She disqualified from the program at the age of 24 last year and usually ended her government support as a foster child. Instead, Santa Clara County taxpayers pay her $ 1,000 per month with no restrictions on how she can use it. This is part of a guaranteed income program for former foster parents’ children.

De Jesus also takes care of her 9-year-old brother as his temporary guardian while fighting anxiety and depression. She said one day her condition made it difficult for her to continue working because she didn’t have enough energy to get out of bed and didn’t go to work.

She currently works full-time as a client support specialist at the Bill Wilson Center, where she works with young people in situations like her. She says she didn’t have to worry about money like she used to, and chose to save most of what she gets from a guaranteed income program. She used some of it to buy things for her brother. As my brother grows older, he becomes more interested in expensive electronics.

And she used that money to save a down payment for her “dream car”, the Blue Subaru WRX.

“I’m proud of where I am,” she said. “You don’t have to be stressed and isolated and rethink.’Oh, you don’t have enough money to pay your rent or your phone bill.”

The Santa Clara County program has so far spent $ 1.4 million on the county. Participants can receive money with their debit card and use it for purchases and withdrawals from ATMs. Melanie Jimenez Perez, who oversees the program, said county officials have asked them to fill out an investigation to monitor how they behave, but have not completed a thorough analysis. Stated.