Aldermen line up behind guaranteed income: ‘2021 is our New Deal moment’  

A growing group of aldermen led by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) are calling on city finance officials to set aside a piece of the forthcoming federal rescue package for direct cash payments to struggling Chicagoans. 

Villegas wants to peel off up to $50 million from the $1.8 billion due to the city from the American Rescue Plan Act to pilot a “guaranteed income program for those who need help the most,” he said during a meeting of the City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development Thursday. Villegas, who chairs the committee, used the two-hour meeting to showcase support for direct-payment programs among policy researchers and officials from other cities.