Judge puts pause on St. Louis guaranteed income program that pays poor families $500 a month

A Missouri judge halted St. Louis' guaranteed income program while it's being challenged in court.

Circuit Judge Joseph P. Whyte on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order against the St. Louis Guaranteed Basic Income Project (GBI). This move will impact more than 500 families who were participating in the GBI program.

"The City of St. Louis will follow the judge’s order," St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said, according to a local FOX affiliate.

"We are exploring our legal options, and my administration continues to find every avenue possible to support the families of St. Louis City," she added.

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Jones, who signed off on the pilot program in December 2022, was listed in the plaintiff's lawsuit along with the city’s treasurer and comptroller. Payments from the GBI program will cease until the court case is resolved.

The lawsuit, which was filed on June 13, claimed that the GBI violates both the Missouri State Constitution and the St. Louis City Charter. 

According to St. Louis Public Radio, lawyers for the city countered that the program is constitutional because it is intended to "stabilize families and benefit the local economy."

The lawsuit states that the "Missouri Constitution prohibits a county, city or other political corporation or subdivision of the state from lend[ing] its credit or grant[ing] public money or property to any private individual, association or corporation …"

Bevis Schock, the attorney involved in the lawsuit, told Fox News Digital that his legal group, the Holy Joes, is in the business of "enforcing Constitutional norms" and that the Missouri Constitution and the City of St. Louis "disallows gifts to private individuals."

"That's what this is, and we feel that the various business subsidies are as bad as a guaranteed basic income gift," Schock told Fox News Digital.

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He went on to say, "I mean, both of them are bad from a policy perspective, but the Missouri Constitution actually prohibits the guaranteed basic income, and we feel like if we don't enforce our constitutional norms, our society won't work out very well."

After the GBI program launched in December 2022, the first rollout of monthly payments of $500 was announced in October 2023. The funding came from $5 million in COVID relief funds and a $1 million donation from tech billionaire Jack Dorsey.

In order to qualify, participants had to make less than $53,000 and have children. The program had originally planned to support 440 participants but due to philanthropic donations, the program added 100 more.

The program was set to end in 2025. 

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The ruling on the St. Louis GBI program comes amid similar programs becoming a trend across the U.S. in recent years with more than 100 GBI pilots launched since 2018. Several of the GBI programs stem from the efforts of a coalition of over 100 mayors pushing pilot GBI programs that offer low income participants up to $1,000 a month with no strings attached. 

While some studies have shown that the pilots have produced positive results, many of these programs face funding and legal challenges.