This report explores public banking as a critical tool for advancing a rights-based economy grounded in racial justice, Indigenous sovereignty, and environmental sustainability. The authors argue that public banks, when governed by democratic principles and equity-centered mandates, can challenge the extractive logic of private finance and help meet collective needs.

This report argues for the integration of guaranteed income (GI) policies with public banking initiatives to create a more effective and equitable system for cash transfers in the United States. It highlights the limitations of the existing private financial infrastructure in distributing pandemic-era relief funds and proposes public banking as a solution to ensure timely, low-cost, and secure disbursements of guaranteed income payments.

This policy brief describes how local policymakers can design and implement guaranteed income pilot programs to combat poverty, address income disparities, and improve community health and well-being.

This case study examines Rise Up Cambridge, a guaranteed income pilot program for low-income families implemented by the City of Cambridge in partnership with Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee and the Cambridge Community Foundation and funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act fiscal recovery funds.

This case study examines the Denver Basic Income Project, a pilot initiative supported by the City of Denver using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that provides direct, unconditional cash payments to unhoused people.

This case study examines the Multnomah Mother’s Trust, a guaranteed income pilot program funded by Multnomah County’s using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that provided $500 in monthly direct cash assistance to 100 Black mothers living in Multnomah County, Oregon over a 24-month period from May 2022 through June 2024.

The project aims to provide research that can be used by practitioners and researchers alike to understand, discuss, formulate, adjust, evaluate, communicate about, and scale cash transfer and guaranteed income programs and promote transformational progress toward economic inclusion, social equity, and civic engagement.