Direct cash, anti-displacement efforts, and conservative backlash in one of America’s most rapidly gentrifying states — and how Austin is stepping up.

By Annie Flom

Texas in 2021 is a ball of contradictions. Rapid population growth, gentrification, and demographic shifts are reshaping the state at a dizzying pace. According to the 2020 Census, Texas experienced the largest population growth of any state since 2010. Texans of color made up 95% of that growth, with the state’s Hispanic population now almost as large as the state’s non-Hispanic white population. Gentrification has also skyrocketed. The median home value in Texas has increased by more than 50% since 2010 — and in certain neighborhoods like East Austin, median home values have doubled in the past…

By: Stacey Rutland

When we started Income Movement two years ago, we thought the road to a federal basic income would be a long and winding one. When the pandemic hit and people lost their jobs overnight, that road became a lot shorter. The need to help people quickly and efficiently became a rallying cry of advocates and many politicians, and cash was the obvious answer.

Through expanded unemployment and a series of stimulus checks, we kept millions of people out of poverty. In fact, despite the utter financial devastation of the pandemic, we were able to actually make life…

By Stacey Rutland

Income Movement is driven by the mission to elevate voices of the grassroots — to make sure they are both heard by those in power, and have a significant impact on policy.

We recently had the opportunity to check all of these boxes with a partnership between our organization, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust and the Marshall Plan for Moms. While all our groups work on different issues, we have a shared goal of empowering people through cash. The Marshall Plan for Moms, which focuses on policy to support mothers who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic…

Bringing 2 million petition signatures to Senators leads to an open letter to the Biden administration

By Annie Flom

When we sign a petition or take part in a digital action, we sometimes forget the power our voices can have. A few clicks here, a couple keystrokes there, and your name is added — a simple act that takes seconds to complete. The simplicity makes it easy to assume you didn’t do very much at all. Even as you watch the number of petition signatures increase rapidly, from 300 to 10,000 to 1.5 million, you still wonder: is this going to make a difference?

The same goes for small local actions. Gathering with a few of…

One woman’s work to get UBI onto the screens and into the hearts of Americans.

By Diane Pagen

People who care about winning a Universal Basic Income (UBI) have done many things to push it into the public consciousness and onto the desks of public servants. Over the years, a host of things including flyers, street outreach, interviews, calling elected officials, public art, community groups, conferences, demonstrations, and now many online activities are ways people have worked to move progress on UBI.

No one ever thought of doing a Public Service Announcement (PSA). Until 2021. Until Gisèle Huff.

I remember PSAs when I was a kid. They were short and to the point. They helped…

Delivering the people’s demands for monthly stimulus checks.

By Stacey Rutland

We all know part of adulting is paying the bills. And when you don’t, the consequences include losing the service you were charged for.

This is the simple idea behind the Make It Monthly campaign we launched at Income Movement: to push our elected leaders to pay monthly stimulus checks to the people during this health and financial crisis. Congress has failed to provide the millions of Americans struggling under the crushing financial weight of the pandemic with adequate relief. $1,800 over nearly a year barely covers a single month of rent in most of the country…

By Gisele Huff

In May 2019, I spent a week in New York City where I met Andrew Yang at his campaign headquarters, a small suite of almost bare rooms in a nondescript office building staffed by seven people. My reason for being there was because my late son, Gerald Huff, had been a very early supporter of Andrew’s and had enlisted me to do the same. By showcasing UBI as the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, Andrew transformed it from a little-known academic discussion to a mainstream, national topic of conversation.

Gerald died of pancreatic cancer in November 2018…

Part II: Together, We Will Bring Recurring Cash Payments to the People

By Chelsea Wilkinson

Every passing month, the lack of financial relief provided to the people during this pandemic has created an extremely dire and heartbreaking situation to witness in this country. With the end of the year arriving, and as the pandemic rages out of control, the majority of the population has been pushed into a survival mode as they grapple to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads.

Since March, Income Movement has prioritized the work of our entire organization around pressuring Congress to provide recurring cash payments to people in stimulus and recovery…