direct cash can be a dignified and cost-effective tool to reduce poverty and specifically homelessness in Denver and beyond, and to change the narrative around what people are capable of when they’re given stability, choice, and investment.” Seeing the success of this program, the Stanford Basic Income Lab launched similar programs in cities across the country. According to the results of these studies, most people used the money on retail sales and services, food and groceries, transportation, and housing expenses. Battis said that Donovan started the program after seeing how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted homelessness in Denver, initially handing out cash directly from his own pocket and testing small-scale pilots before launching the program in full in October 2022, and final payments going out in September 2024. “People spent money on exactly what you’d expect, which is food, housing, transportation, getting your car repaired, paying off debt you’ve owed someone for a long time, [and] taking care of your kids,” said Gwen Battis, DBIP’s project manager. “They don’t do these things often,” she added. “There’s a social and emotional piece that having extra cash grants you the ability to do things for yourself and take care of yourself.” Battis also stated that the results from this program exceeded their expectations. For example, she said 45% of all participants are in a house or apartment of their own, and many reported significant improvements in financial stability and finding full-time work. PUSH BACK AGAINST BASIC INCOME While programs like the DBIP show the benefits of basic income programs, attempts across the country to bring it to policy have been met with heavy pushback, especially among Republican politicians. In Houston, a program called the Harris County Prosperity Program was proposed to give 18 monthly payments of $500 to households within the zip codes with the highest poverty rates, but was struck down in a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. State lawmakers described the program as “lottery socialism” and claimed direct deposits to families were against the law. Another opponent to basic income is John Wiik, a state senator from South Dakota. who believes these programs disincentivize work and claims the motives behind them are “bureaucrats trying to hand out checks to make sure your party registration matches whoever signed the checks for the rest of your life” and that “if you get people addicted to just getting a check from the government, it’s going to be really hard to take that away.” Other critics of basic income programs, especially those directed towards people experiencing homelessness, argue that it will be misused to buy drugs or alcohol, rather than improving people’s financial situation. According to Battis, this was not the case among participants in DBIP. “There is no significant increase or decrease in spending on illegal substances or alcohol; it just remained the same,” Battis stated. “I think that it’s a big misconception… all of these programs are showing the same results that people are spending money on food, transportation, and housing above all else. That’s not to say that people don’t do that, because people who are housed do that. It’s a bit of a narrative that we are trying to combat that people in poverty or people experiencing homelessness are held to different standards… that they should and shouldn’t be doing certain things with their time or their money.” A NEW PATH FORWARD Another question up in their air about these programs is how integrated the government should be. Battis states that there are several ways it can be implemented; however, she believes that “it helps to have a government element to [the program], but I actually think some of the strongest examples of long-lasting and successful demonstrations of basic income are separate from government… that’s not to say that policies should not be accepted or put forward.” One successful example of a government-run basic GWEN BATTIS (CENTER RIGHT), A PROJECT MANAGER WITH THE DENVER BASIC INCOME PROJECT, SPEAKING TO A CROWD AT THE RALLY FOR BASIC INCOME IN SEPTEMBER 2023. | PHOTO COURTESY OF ARMANDO GENEYRO income policy she mentioned is the Alaska Permanent Fund. Founded in 1976 after oil was discovered in the newly admitted state, a fund was created by taxing revenue from the booming oil and gas industry so residents could benefit from the sudden increase in wealth. With an initial investment of $730,000 ($4.2 million adjusted for inflation), the fund is now worth a staggering $83.2 billion today, money which is being used to help the people of Alaska. Battis believes a similar model could be implemented in other places across the country, such as Colorado. “That’s a really exciting and promising model that we looked at in Colorado that might work if we tax something like AI or robotics, or digital advertising,” she said. “These models run off of our data, and we’re not being compensated for all these tech companies becoming worth trillions, and that’s not run by the government.” “I think there’s a lot of different universal and targeted approaches that have been successful, and it really depends on the locality and what’s happening in that area,” Battis continued. Universal basic income does seem to work in Alaska; however, they have a very small population and vast quantities of natural resources. Would a program like this be realistic in states with larger populations and fewer natural resources, like Colorado? If every single resident of Colorado received $1000/month, it would cost the state roughly $72.2 billion per year. While this seems like a large number, a CNBC report on September 5, 2025, stated that the eight largest US-based tech companies have a combined value of $21 trillion, which means that a universal basic income program in Colorado could be fully funded using only 0.3% of these eight companies’ wealth. GWEN BATTIS, A PROJECT MANAGER WITH THE DENVER BASIC INCOME PROJECT, SPEAKING AT A DBIP EVENT IN THE DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS WITH PARTICIPANTS AND STAKEHOLDERS OF THE PROGRAM DISCUSSING VISIONS OF THE FUTURE IN 2024. | PHOTO BY ARMANDO GENEYRO 12 DENVER VOICE November 2025
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