New York State continues to see rising costs and poverty rates that are disproportionately impacting its most marginalized residents. In 2022 alone, over 2.7 million New Yorkers found themselves living in poverty and about 3 million New Yorkers experienced housing insecurity. The need for effective solutions that can tackle this ongoing crisis of poverty is acute and only growing. Cash is a simple, tested, and scalable intervention for providing immediate relief to those experiencing poverty. Among its well-researched benefits, direct cash transfers provide not only for immediate relief, but also for economic stability and broader well-being, underscored by dignity, flexibility, and efficiency. 

Guaranteed income pilots throughout the United States, including here in New York, have provided a viable and tested solution for addressing poverty at scale: direct cash assistance that comes with no strings attached. Programs like HudsonUp, Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY), The Bridge Project, and YouthNPower are putting money directly into the hands of New Yorkers who need it the most, stabilizing families and lifting recipients out of poverty in the process. These programs have already reached over 3,800 New Yorkers.

While thousands of individuals have been aided by the cash pilot programs that have emerged thus far, the need for help is far greater than the current support that can be offered by a few pilots. For financial relief to reach all New Yorkers in need, policies to increase access to unconditional cash must be implemented at the statewide and federal level. This includes shifting existing public benefits, such as TANF, toward an unconditional cash model; expanding current programs such as tax credits; and investing in a range of new programs such as guaranteed income and baby bonds. 

The NYS Cash Alliance was born out of this realization and with the understanding that achieving statewide guaranteed income policies will require collective, organized action.