UpLift to continue despite new law banning local government funding •…

Although Iowa has a new law preventing local governments from funding guaranteed income programs, the UpLift program in Iowa plans to continue through outside support.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 2319 into law Wednesday. The measure prevents cities and counties from implementing programs that support supplemental incomes to residents with no work requirements or restrictions on how the funds are spent. The new law gives the state attorney general’s office the ability to send cease-and-desist letters to local governments that attempt to violate the ban.

The new law will largely affect funding for the UpLift pilot program currently underway in central Iowa. The 24-month study provides 110 people — individuals in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties with household incomes at or below 60% the area median income and with at least one dependent in their household — with $500 per month.