Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction is weighing a new program to provide direct cash payments to its neediest residents.

       Inspired by the impact of the federal government’s coronavirus pandemic-era stimulus payments, Montgomery County Council members Gabe Albornoz (D-At Large) and Will Jawando (D-At Large) introduced a proposal Tuesday that would give out $800 monthly payments to 300 needy households, with no strings attached. Council President Tom Hucker (D-District 5) and County Executive Marc Elrich (D) both say they support the two-year pilot program, which would be funded by philanthropic groups and the county government.

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       “We spend a lot of money giving out money … so this will be an interesting experiment,” Elrich said in an interview Monday.

       Chicago poised to create one of the nation’s largest ‘guaranteed basic income’ programs

       If adopted, Montgomery would be the first county in Maryland to formally test the viability of “guaranteed income” — an increasingly popular social welfare system that advocates say is more effective than other measures in helping recipients gain full-time employment and move off other government aid programs. Critics of such programs often say that they make it less likely for recipients to find jobs, though recent research suggests otherwise — a guaranteed income pilot in Stockton, Calif., helped recipients secure full-time jobs at twice the rate of people in a control group, according to an independent study.

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       “We treat poverty in this country as a character flaw. We treat hardship as a character flaw. It is none of that,” Richard Crowel, head of Montgomery’s health and human services department, said in a news conference Tuesday. “It is about the lack of resources to make change in your life.”

       Guaranteed-income pilot programs are being conducted in at least 20 cities across the United States. The Chicago City Council votes this week on a $31 million initiative proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) as part of her 2022 budget. Baltimore City has formed a committee to design a pilot program. And in Northern Virginia, Arlington and Alexandria announced earlier this month that they would be experimenting with guaranteed income.

       “We’ve been educated in the last four years of the success of this program,” said Albornoz, referencing the Stockton study. “And we’re all anxious right now to try something new, to really break this cycle of poverty in a way that’s sustainable and meaningful.”

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       Montgomery officials first received a briefing on guaranteed income in 2019, around the time when the concept of a universal basic income, backed by Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, entered the national stage. The county’s health and human services department was researching ways to implement a guaranteed-income pilot in Montgomery when the coronavirus arrived, sickening more than 82,000 county residents and causing significant economic hardship in vulnerable communities.

       The pandemic added urgency to the push for more innovative, more effective social welfare programs, Jawando said. The challenges that local governments, including Montgomery, faced in disbursing federal aid buttressed the argument for direct cash payments.

       The pandemic intensified hunger in the D.C. region. Now, there’s a push to end it for good.

       “Everyone has suffered in these two years. Either you’ve seen the assistance and it’s helped you, or you’ve seen the need that is out there,” Jawando said. “In a way, it’s fortuitous that we’re trying this now.”

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       Growing up in low-income rental apartments in Long Branch, Jawando said he saw — and felt — the social stigma that came with public assistance programs like food stamps and housing vouchers. He sees direct cash payments as a way to help low-income households retain their dignity and independence even as they work their way out of poverty, he said.

       The Rev. Ben Wikner, who works with low-income residents in Gaithersburg and Montgomery Village, said he supports the idea of guaranteed income but worries that the pilot may detract from existing aid programs in the county, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Working Families Income Supplement, both of which got a boost from lawmakers earlier this year.

       “When we create more and more programs, it can have a dilatory and distracting effect on the good programs that already exist,” said Wikner of Cross Community Church.

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       How the county would recruit and select recipients for the pilot has yet to be determined. Under the council’s proposal, the first year of the program, including setting up a payment system, would cost $3 million. One-third would be funded by the D.C.-based Meyer Foundation and the remaining two-thirds would be paid for by the county. Recipients would have to be living in the county, the proposal says, and a designated number of slots would go toward individuals and families leaving homeless shelters. The county would partner with the Universities at Shady Grove to evaluate the results of the program as it is rolled out.

       A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Nov. 2.

       Low-income households, many of which have been left behind by the country’s economic recovery, are “exhausted and overwhelmed” after 20 months in the pandemic, Albornoz said. “We just hope this can make things easier for them.”