DETROIT – Supporters of Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed voiced support for guaranteed income, a social safety net concept gaining traction in municipalities across the nation.
“I think it’s a good idea,” one rallygoer told Fox News Digital. “With the prices rising and programs being cut like they are and trying to get access to them. Yeah, I think it’s a good idea. I hope he supports them.”
Fox News Digital spoke with voters outside Cass Technical High School in Detroit, where El-Sayed hosted a campaign rally featuring former President Barack Obama. The event marked a key moment in the progressive candidate’s effort to strengthen ties with the Democratic establishment as he seeks to succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
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Rallygoers leaving the overflow venue were asked whether guaranteed income programs are an effective policy and whether El-Sayed should make them a core pillar of his campaign.
“I do, and I think the billionaires should be paying for it,” voter Dave told Fox News Digital.
Kiana Montgomery, a publicist, also voiced support for the concept — provided strict parameters are attached.
“I do [support it]. I think there should be parameters — exactly what people can spend it on to ensure everybody’s trying to uplift the community as a whole,” Montgomery said. “A rising tide lifts all ships, and if people are in need, we should definitely support them.”
El-Sayed has previously signaled support for direct-cash poverty interventions, including during an appearance at the “Guaranteed Income Now” summit in Detroit. However, his campaign platform focuses primarily on universal healthcare through Medicare for all, raising the minimum wage and expanding existing federal safety net programs.
“How do we address poverty at that transition between generations in a family? We’ve got too many parents trying to do the impossible: to go to school, to raise kids, and to earn a living all at the same time,” El-Sayed said at the summit.
“So what we’ll be proposing … in Wayne County is a pilot to invest $500 a month in young parents who are enrolled in community college,” he added. “As you try to do the impossible, we can give you a leg up — one less shift of work a week to try and be that student you want to be and that parent that you need to be for your kids.”
The summit was hosted by the Economic Security Project (ESP), an advocacy group founded in 2016 by entrepreneurs, activists and researchers that has helped launch more than 100 guaranteed income pilots nationwide. Guaranteed income initiatives are typically structured as temporary, no-strings-attached pilot programs designed to measure the economic and health impacts of direct cash support.
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The debate over cash assistance comes as “Rx Kids”— a high-profile public-private cash aid initiative for expectant mothers and infants — expands across Detroit and other Michigan cities. The program provides eligible pregnant women with a one-time, unconditional $1,500 payment, followed by $500 per month for up to 12 months after birth. While Rx Kids organizers classify the model as a targeted “child allowance” rather than traditional universal basic income, critics argue that both rely on direct cash transfers.
Michigan House Republicans have questioned the initiative’s oversight and spending, which has secured nearly $400 million in combined public and philanthropic funding.
House Oversight Committee Chairman state Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, criticized the program’s lack of spending guardrails, arguing that unconditional cash operates as a “redistribution of wealth” rather than a solution to systemic poverty. Republican lawmakers have raised concerns over transparency and administrative costs, noting that GiveDirectly, the nonprofit administering the program, receives tens of millions of dollars in fees.
Conservative policy groups and state Republicans argue unconditional cash programs undermine workforce participation and deepen government dependency. Proponents, meanwhile, point to data from more than 250 cash transfer pilots across 40 states and Washington, D.C., arguing that direct cash transfers can reduce infant poverty and improve health outcomes.
Detroit is among more than 100 U.S. municipalities that have experimented with basic-income-style pilots since 2018. As temporary federal COVID-19 relief funds have dried up, local leaders are searching for alternative ways to fund cash transfers permanently. In Cook County, Illinois, commissioners allocated $7.5 million in local taxpayer funding to continue the county’s guaranteed income program as a permanent budget initiative.
For many rallygoers interviewed, economic support and healthcare access were closely connected.
“He absolutely should [campaign on it], especially being a woman and knowing what women risk, especially in healthcare, how there’s already a deference against us,” supporter Tammy Bacon told Fox News Digital. “They don’t listen to what we need. There’s a significant need for women in healthcare and to listen to our issues, our values, and respect us and give us the care that we need without being discriminatory or presumptuous.”
Another supporter, Mohammed, a resident of Bloomfield Hills, agreed that targeted assistance could be effective if managed properly.
“It’s a good thing — as long as the money is being used the right way for good and for children … women, children, and pregnant women,” Mohammed said. “For people who want to get an education, that’s a good idea, too.”
El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.