I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8065 

To establish a pilot program providing certain individuals with a guaranteed 

monthly income, to study the effect of a guaranteed monthly income 

on such individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 14, 2020 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program providing certain individuals 

with a guaranteed monthly income, to study the effect 

of a guaranteed monthly income on such individuals, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guaranteed Income 

5 Pilot Program Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8065 IH

1 (1) Too many Americans cannot achieve finan2 cial stability due to income volatility, the rising cost 

3 of living, wage stagnation, and a lack of affordable 

4 housing. 

5 (2) Real wages have failed to keep pace with in6 flation, meaning the purchasing power of American 

7 households has not changed in 40 years. 

8 (3) Income volatility, defined as an annual in9 come fluctuation of 25 percent or more, impacts 

10 nearly half of the United States population. 

11 (4) 40 percent of American households indicate 

12 that they would face difficulty covering a $400 

13 emergency expense with readily available cash or a 

14 checking account. 

15 (5) Full-time minimum wage earners cannot af16 ford an average 2-bedroom apartment anywhere in 

17 the United States. 

18 (6) The changing nature of the economy, in19 cluding the rise of the gig economy, unemployment 

20 risks posed by automation, and the fluctuating na21 ture of waged labor, will result in increased income 

22 volatility and prohibit upward economic mobility. 

23 SEC. 3. GUARANTEED INCOME PILOT PROGRAM. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

25 with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shall establish 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8065 IH

1 and implement a 3-year pilot program (hereinafter re2 ferred to as the ‘‘program’’) to provide a guaranteed 

3 monthly income to certain eligible individuals in accord4 ance with this section. 

5 (b) INCOME SUBSIDY.— 

6 (1) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE

7 INDIVIDUALS.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

8 the Commissioner and the external partner selected 

9 pursuant to subsection (d), shall develop selection 

10 criteria that the Secretary will use to select 12,000 

11 total eligible individuals for participation in the pro12 gram. 

13 (2) AMOUNT OF INCOME SUBSIDY.—Of the eli14 gible individuals participating in the program, 6,000 

15 shall receive a cash payment each month equal to 

16 the fair market rent for a 2-bedroom home in the 

17 zip code in which the eligible individual resides, or 

18 a substantially similar amount as determined by the 

19 Secretary, in consultation with the Commissioner 

20 and the external partner. 

21 (3) MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME SUB22 SIDY.—Each participating eligible individual shall 

23 receive the cash payment on the 15th day of each 

24 month. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8065 IH

1 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMISSIONER OF INTER2 NAL REVENUE.—The Commissioner of Internal Revenue 

3 shall be responsible for— 

4 (1) providing the Secretary access to tax 

5 records to administer and study the program under 

6 this section; 

7 (2) updating the Secretary and the external 

8 partner on changes to the taxable income of a par9 ticipating eligible individual. 

10 (d) EXTERNAL PARTNER.— 

11 (1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select an 

12 external partner to provide assistance with the de13 sign, administration, and evaluation of the program. 

14 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—An organization selected 

15 to be the external partner shall have demonstrated 

16 experience in— 

17 (A) mixed-methods experimental design; 

18 and 

19 (B) implementing cash-transfer programs. 

20 (3) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The external partner, 

21 and any employee of the external partner, shall be 

22 treated as a Federal employee for purposes of sec23 tion 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 

24 U.S.C. 6103). 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8065 IH

1 (4) DATA COLLECTION.—The external partner 

2 shall collect data from participating eligible individ3 uals as necessary to complete the study and reports 

4 required under section 4, and to conduct any addi5 tional research as the Secretary determines nec6 essary. 

7 (e) DISREGARD OF CASH PAYMENTS FOR PURPOSES

8 OF ALL FEDERAL AND FEDERALLY ASSISTED PRO9 GRAMS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 

10 payment made to participating eligible individuals under 

11 this section shall not be taken into account as income, and 

12 shall not be taken into account as resources for a period 

13 of 12 months from receipt, for purposes of determining 

14 the eligibility of such eligible individual (or any other indi15 vidual) for benefits or assistance (or the amount or extent 

16 of benefits or assistance) under any Federal program or 

17 any State or local program financed in whole or in part 

18 with Federal funds. 

19 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT. 

20 (a) STUDY ON PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in 

21 collaboration with the Commissioner and the external 

22 partner, shall conduct a study on outcomes of the pro23 gram. 

24 (b) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 24 months 

25 after participating eligible individuals have been begun 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8065 IH

1 participating in the program, the Secretary, in consulta2 tion with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the 

3 external partner, shall provide an interim report on the 

4 program under section 3 to the Congress. 

5 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after 

6 the conclusion of the program under section 3, the Sec7 retary, in consultation with the Commissioner of Internal 

8 Revenue and the external partner, shall provide a final re9 port on the program to the Congress, including an analysis 

10 of— 

11 (1) the effect of the monthly income subsidy 

12 provided in section 3 on— 

13 (A) micro-economic outcomes of partici14 pating eligible individuals; 

15 (B) the health of participating eligible indi16 viduals; 

17 (C) the social costs of income volatility, in18 cluding connections with income fluctuation and 

19 health, education, employment, childcare, and 

20 other outcomes as determined appropriate by 

21 the Secretary; and 

22 (2) the feasibility of expanding the program 

23 under section 3 to include a larger number of par24 ticipants. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 8065 IH

1 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis4 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of the Internal 

5 Revenue Service. 

6 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

7 individual’’ means an individual taxpayer between 

8 the ages of 18–65. 

9 (3) EXTERNAL PARTNER.—The term ‘‘external 

10 partner’’ means a non-partisan research agency or a 

11 non-profit academic institution with expertise in so12 cial science experimentation. 

13 (4) FAIR MARKET RENT.—The term ‘‘fair mar14 ket rent’’ means the applicable fair market rent es15 tablished under section 8(c) of the United States 

16 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)). 

17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

19 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

21 this Act $285,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 

22 through 2024. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS