Vitelli proposes forming Committee to study basic income security

A proposal by Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, to establish the Committee To Study the Feasibility of Creating Basic Income Security was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee on Wednesday.

“President Lyndon Johnson declared the beginning of the war on poverty in his State of the Union address in 1964, and the list of the programs that have become known as the social safety net is long,” said Sen. Vitelli. “But have these programs accomplished their purpose? Poverty is still with us. In addition, to qualify and receive the benefits of these programs is a cumbersome, often embarrassing, and bureaucratic process. A basic income is an idea worth exploring as an alternative path out of poverty.”

The bill — LD 1324 “Resolve, To Establish the Committee To Study the Feasibility of Creating Basic Income Security” — would create the Committee To Study the Feasibility of Creating Basic Income Security to examine options to better provide basic economic security to Maine people, including through the development of a direct cash payment system. The Committee would be made up of legislators and members of the public.

LD 1324 “is designed to be an early, proactive step toward creating a better system of income security for all Maine people,” said Joby Thoyalil, of Maine Equal Justice, a civil legal services organization. “Our current economy doesn’t adequately compensate people at the lower end of the economic ladder.”

The Labor and Housing Committee will take an initial vote on LD 1324 in the coming weeks.