January 1, California Activists Plot PERMANENT Taxpayer-Funded Cash Handout Scheme

Wyatt’s Take

• Far-left activists in California want to make guaranteed income permanent—funded entirely by your tax dollars through new local taxes
• Over 100 no-strings-attached cash giveaway programs already running nationwide, with California leading the pack at 60 pilot programs
• As federal pandemic money dries up, desperate liberal mayors are scrambling to lock in permanent taxpayer funding before the gravy train ends

A radical organization pushing guaranteed income handouts across America is now demanding California make the giveaways permanent—and stick taxpayers with the bill.

The Economic Security Project (ESP), founded in 2016 by a coalition of over 100 left-wing entrepreneurs, activists, and philanthropists, has helped launch more than 100 guaranteed income pilot programs nationwide. Now they’re pushing to make these no-strings-attached cash handouts a permanent fixture in the Golden State.

Their solution? New local taxes on hardworking Californians.

A state affiliate called Economic Security California is leading the charge to transform temporary pilot programs into permanent policy. The group openly states its mission on its website:

“We lead the transition from cash pilot initiatives to influential policies, focusing on expanding, modernizing, and scaling programs for direct cash.”

California already leads the nation with 60 guaranteed income pilots—more than any other state. But the activists aren’t satisfied with experiments. They want guaranteed income baked into the state’s infrastructure forever.

In policy recommendations posted on their website, ESP urged government agencies to explore “public funding mechanisms beyond philanthropy.”

“Options can range from dedicated local taxes to shifting affordability-focused investments into direct cash supports,” the organization stated.

As an example, they pointed to Los Angeles County’s guaranteed income program, which runs entirely on public funds through the county’s Poverty Alleviation Initiative. Other cities have tapped American Rescue Plan Act funds—federal pandemic money—to bankroll their cash giveaway schemes.

But there’s a problem: that federal money is running out fast. Under federal law, American Rescue Plan funds had to be legally committed by the end of 2024 and must be fully spent by December 2025.

Now liberal mayors across the country are scrambling to find new revenue sources before the spigot turns off completely.

Cook County, Illinois—the second-largest county in America—already made the jump. After completing its 2022 pilot program, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved $7.5 million in local taxpayer funds to continue guaranteed income handouts. That’s your money, permanently redirected to no-strings-attached cash payments.

ESP frames guaranteed income as a “power response” to affordability challenges, claiming it solves everything from poverty to crime to childhood development.

“A large and growing body of evidence demonstrates convincing impacts on economic insecurity, income, assets, physical and mental health, food insecurity, poverty, economic and gender inequalities, housing mobility, crime, early child development, and children’s school achievement, employment, and earnings in adulthood,” the organization stated.

That rhetoric matches talking points from Michael D. Tubbs, president of Mayors for Guaranteed Income and former mayor of Stockton, California. Tubbs started the modern municipal cash-handout trend when he launched a pilot in his own city.

Tubbs has argued that regular cash infusions are necessary to help low-income Americans cover rent, groceries, and gas amid rising costs. But critics counter that permanent government dependency isn’t the answer—better jobs, lower taxes, and economic growth are.

The Economic Security Project did not respond to requests for comment.

Wyatt Matters

California liberals want to tax you more so they can give your money away—no work required, no accountability, no end in sight. This isn’t about helping people get back on their feet. It’s about creating permanent dependency and expanding government control. Middle-class families are barely scraping by as it is, and now radical activists want to slap on new taxes to fund handouts forever. This is wealth redistribution, plain and simple—and it’s coming to a state near you if we don’t push back now.