The pilot programs in the three cities are in various stages of implementation, and it’s possible more cities will join the effort. The 18-month experiment in Stockton is more than halfway complete, while Newark and Milwaukee plan to launch their pilots later this year. Chicago is also considering a universal basic income program.

“It’s a novel idea, but I don’t think people take it seriously,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in an interview. “That’s why it’s important for us to do these pilots, and show people the seriousness of this.”

In its truest form, universal basic income, sometimes referred to as guaranteed income, gives the same amount of money to residents regardless of income level.

In Stockton, 125 residents — all living at or below the median income level — receive $500 a month. Details of the Milwaukee and Newark pilots are still being worked out, but both Baraka and Lewis say they want to include residents who are living in poverty as well as those considered lower middle class.

In October, Stockton officials released preliminary findings of their program, which indicated participants were spending the money on necessities like food, utility bills and gasoline. Proponents of universal basic income cite these early findings as proof people wouldn’t spend the money on frivolous items.

“This has been an idea whose time has come,” Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs said. “People are paying off credit cards, paying for dentures, helping family members in hard times, and being able to afford tutoring for kids.”

Universal basic income is not a new idea. There were several pilot experiments in the United States and in Canada in the 1970s, and Alaska has had its own form of it for decades, cutting residents checks from oil industry profits. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for guaranteed income in the 1960s and more recently, tech moguls like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have endorsed the idea.