By Leonardo Castaneda

The Mercury News

(TNS)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and presidential candidate, wants to give every American adult $1,000, every single month.

To test a universal basic income program, Yang is giving two families, one in Iowa and one in New Hampshire, $1,000 a month out of his own pocket, according to CBS News. Yang is running as a Democrat and both states are early primary contests for the 2020 presidential nomination.

A universal basic income, which Yang calls “The Freedom Dividend,” would help alleviate poverty and address the disruption from AI and automation, according to his campaign website.

“This would enable all Americans to pay their bills, educate themselves, start businesses, be more creative, stay healthy, relocate for work, spend time with their children, take care of loved ones, and have a real stake in the future,” according to the website.

Universal basic income is not a new idea, and neither are concerns about automation displacing large numbers of workers.

In 2016, startup accelerator Y Combinator and its president Sam Altman gave $1,500 a month to 100 Oakland families. The following year, the company announced it was expanding that test to 3,000 people — 1,000 will get $1,000 a month, and the rest will get $50.

On a website explaining the study, the company says, “Basic income is a bold idea to end poverty, improve economic security, and smooth the transition as technological advances and economic dynamics reshape the nature of work.”

The city of Stockton announced a similar plan last year to give 100 residents $500 a month, funded by the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, according to Business Insider.

Finland recently tested a universal basic income program, giving about $632 to 2,000 people between 25 and 58 years old. Preliminary results published last week found that recipients saw no change in their employment but were healthier, less stressed and more confident about their future.

The Fassi family in Goffstown, New Hampshire started receiving their $1,000 payments from Yang last month, but a family hasn’t been chosen in Iowa yet, according to Fox News.

Yang also ran his plans through the Federal Election Commission, “and they said as long as it’s my personal funds, and it’s a personal gift with no strings attached, they have no issues,” he told Fox News.

In 2009, Yang sold one of his companies, Manhattan Prep, to the testing company Kaplan, for which he earned several million dollars, according to the Center for Public Integrity. That news organization reported that as early as 2016, Yang had earned $285,000 as CEO of Venture for America Inc., a nonprofit that places college graduates at startup companies.

Yang is unique in one more way: His campaign committee received $2,600 in Bitcoin and Ethereum each, making his one of nine federal campaigns, candidates and super PACs that received cryptocurrencies in the 2017-2018 election cycle, according to the Center for Public Integrity.