Margaret Flowers, Green Party candidate for the United States Senate from Maryland, recently raised the issue of basic income during a debate of Senatorial candidates.

In the debate, she expressed her support of a “Green New Deal, which is a full scale mobilization to deal with the climate crisis that will create 20 million living-wage, healthy jobs”. She immediately added that “as we do that, we need to see that as investment that has a public return so that we can create a basic income for everyone and immediately eliminate poverty”.

Flowers is a long-time supporter of basic income. In 2013, she co-authored the article “Time for an Economy Of, By and For the People” (published by Global Research), which argued in support of a UBI.

Basic income advocate Matt Orfalea recently interviewed the Senatorial candidate about her views on basic income (see “Dr. Margaret Flowers for Senate (MD) supports Universal Basic Income“). In this interview, she explains that she supports the policy because it would “immediately eliminate poverty”, “eliminate the need for poverty programs”, and “immediately stimulate the economy from the bottom up”, in addition to providing support to workers displaced by technology. She also adds that the government should begin pursuing a basic income now–in response to question about whether or not she, like Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein, sees basic income only as a long-term visionary goal.

For more about Flowers’ campaign and platform, see her website “Flowers for Senate“.