On Monday, Denver City Council unanimously approved a new “Denver Basic Income Project” initiative that will pay $12,000 in direct payments to homeless people in Denver. The funds will come from $2 million in federal COVID money.
According to the Denver Post, “The Denver portion of the pilot program is also reserved exclusively for women, families and people who are gender nonconforming or nonbinary. Those groups have been identified as especially vulnerable to the economic impacts of COVID-19, city officials say.”
Now, Axios Denver is reporting that the program will also be giving homeless people a new phone and a year of service at the taxpayer’s expense in addition to the $12,000 in universal basic income cash.
Mark Donovan is the founder of Denver Basic Income Project and Axios Denver reports, “Donovan said all participants will be able to get a free phone with a year of service included.”
The City of Denver will be paying 140 homeless people $12,000 each through the program with no strings attached. Accordingly, up to 140 homeless people seem poised to receive a free phone and year of service at taxpayer expense.