For nearly two years, Diantha Williams’ daughter received $50 monthly to put toward whatever she wanted. Often, that looked like basic needs like groceries, car insurance payments and medical and hygiene supplies.
The money came as part of the Denver Basic Income Project, a group using a mix of private philanthropy and city funds to run one of the biggest studies nationwide into the efficacy of basic income, which provides money to people facing homelessness and poverty. Some participants have gotten up to $1,000 a month, no strings attached.
Williams’ daughter had special needs and was immunocompromised, and recently passed away from pneumonia. Before that, Williams said the money was crucial, especially as the family lost other benefits like food stamps.
“The basic income kept us going,” she said.
But the future of the program is in question. Mayor Mike Johnston’s budget proposal for 2025 doesn’t include any more money for the program, which had received $6 million in city money over the past two years, as well as private donations.
Advocates for the program rallied on Wednesday in support of the program. They want the mayor’s office to make a major commitment, adding $15 million to fund a third year of the current program and a new cohort of 300 people for the next three years.
The mayor’s office says the evidence for the anti-poverty policy hasn’t justified the continued investment. It’s also a tight budget year; the city plans to decrease its spending on homelessness and new immigrant services by tens of millions of dollars.
Research on basic income in Denver has been mixed.
The pilot program from Denver Basic Income Project included a partnership with University of Denver faculty, who interviewed participants and studied the effects of basic income.
They did find that regular cash payments helped people experiencing homelessness secure housing. Participants reduced their use of public services, experienced lower stress levels and had a lower likelihood of being unhoused during the program.
But researchers also found an unusual result: The control group, who received just $50 monthly, did just as well as the two experiment groups.One of the study groups received $1,000 per month and another received $6,500 upfront and $500 monthly.
The control group included Williams’ family, who said even $50 per month was a big help.
Jordan Fuja, spokesperson for Mayor Mike Johnston, said the control group results explain why the city did not include funding for basic income in the 2025 budget.
“We are always interested in trying new innovative strategies to solve our toughest challenges, which is why we provided funding for Denver Basic Income Project's (DBIP) pilot program,” Fuja said in an email to Denverite.
She continued: “Unfortunately, the data in the year-one report from the DBIP did not show a statistically significant difference in homelessness resolution between the groups that received large cash transfers and those who did not. Because the data showed limited results in the first year, [the Department of Housing Stability’s] proposed budget does not recommend funding in 2025 for this program.”
Fuja said Denver’s money is better spent on Johnston’s homelessness program, which has focused on bringing people on the streets indoors to non-congregate shelters like hotels and micro-community sites.
Denver saw a decrease in the number of people sleeping on the streets in 2023, but the overall level of homelessness in the broader metro area rose that year. (That’s based on a count of people experiencing homelessness on a single day each year)
Advocates of basic income say they need city help to grow.
At the rally Wednesday, nonprofit leaders, activists and participants who support basic income said the pilot program was a success.
“There are dozens upon dozens of stories from our participants who are real people, about how this project is making a real and lasting change in our community,” said Maria Sierra, community engagement manager with the Denver Basic Income Project. “This is just the beginning.”
While Denver has not seen much organized opposition to the concept of basic income, speakers also pushed back against conservative critiques of the policy, which often focus on costs to taxpayers and the no-strings-attached approach to benefits. Basic income is a stark contrast to public benefits programs like food stamps or rental assistance, which offer help with specific needs only.
Mark Donovan, the program’s founder, said Denver Basic Income Project will continue to court private donations. But making it work, he said, will require a much bigger public investment from the city beyond the $6 million from the past few years.
“We think that a public-private partnership is essential in this next phase. Ultimately if we want to do this at scale, we think it has to be publicly funded, but it's going to take time to get there,” he said. “There's huge amounts of money that are being spent to combat homelessness and poverty and economic injustice, and we think that this is a more efficient and effective way to do that.”
Donovan said he plans to continue pushing for basic income regardless — but without more city money, the pilot might have to end.
The future of the program is at stake in Denver’s budgeting process.
Denver Councilmember Shontel Lewis spoke at the rally Wednesday. She worked on a number of budget amendments aimed at helping people in poverty last year. Not all of them passed, but one that did secured an added $13.5 million for emergency rental assistance. Another got an additional $2 million to continue the basic income study through this year.
“I'm disappointed that despite the Denver Basic Income Project having such incredible results, we’re still having to prove its worth,” she said.
Council members could bring a budget amendment adding funding for the program. Lewis hasn’t confirmed whether she’ll do so yet.
But trying to secure more money may be tough in a particularly tight budget year. The 2025 budget projects the smallest growth for the city in 14 years and the first reduction in staff in a decade, not including the pandemic.
Johnston is already cutting Denver’s homelessness spending by more than $80 million. He also has veto power over budget amendments, which council can override with a supermajority of votes.
City Council must pass any amendments and vote on the final budget by Nov. 12.
