NEED TO KNOW
- The Board of Commissioners in Cook County, Ill., voted to continue its guaranteed income program, which gave $500 monthly checks to eligible residents in the county between 2022 and 2024
- The board voted to set aside a total of $7.5 million for the program, which will come from the county’s “equity fund,” in its fiscal year 2026 budget
- This comes after the county announced that people who participated in the program’s pilot project reported feeling more “financially secure” and experiencing “reduced stress”
Americans living in the country’s second-most populous county may be getting an added bonus soon.
The Board of Commissioners in Cook County, Ill., voted to continue its guaranteed income program — which gave $500 monthly checks to eligible residents in the county between 2022 and 2024 — and has set aside new funding for the program, according to FOX 32 Chicago, Business Insider and Newsweek.
The board voted to allot a total of $7.5 million for the program, which will come from the county’s “equity fund,” in its fiscal year 2026 budget, per the outlets. A spokesperson also told FOX 32 that reserve federal pandemic money can also be used to fund the program in the future.
“With working families struggling to afford their daily lives, Cook County is taking bold action to put money directly back in their pockets,” Sarah Saheb, director of the Economic Security Project, told FOX 32 in a statement.
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“Cook County’s guaranteed income pilot was a historic success, helping families afford the groceries, childcare and transportation they need to thrive,” she added. “We are thrilled to see President Preckwinkle make this program permanent and look forward to partnering on the work ahead to make sure even more families can benefit.”
However, county officials will still need to determine the parameters of the program moving forward and who would be eligible for the proposed new rounds of payments. A spokesperson said the county’s Bureau of Economic Development told FOX 32 that officials are in the early stages of designing the program, and expect that to be completed in mid-to-late 2026.
This comes after the success of a pilot for the guaranteed income program that ran from December 2022 to December 2024 using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). During the pilot, an “unconditional $500 monthly” cash payment was sent to 3,250 low-to-moderate-income families in Cook County.
The county announced its findings from the pilot program in April 2025, noting that several families found the program useful and garnered “significant positive impacts” from it.
The county said that 75% of families “reported feeling more financially secure” after receiving the payments, and 56% of families “reported reduced stress.” It also found that 94% of families that received payments “experienced a financial emergency or unexpected expense and used program funds to manage it.”
The commissioners told Fox News that the decision to extend the program was made due to the responses to this survey. They also learned, per the outlet, that families used the funds they received for essential needs such as food, rent, utilities and transportation.
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On the federal level, President Donald Trump has also proposed giving Americans $2,000 checks funded from tariffs, according to CBS News.
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“A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone,” Trump, 79, wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this month. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified to Fox News a few days later that the checks were still in discussion, but would likely be given to families making “less than, say, $100,000.”
Trump said that the rebates would not arrive before Christmas, but people could expect them next year, per ABC15 Arizona.
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