Senate panel endorses pilot conditional cash transfer for pregnant families tied to prenatal care and home visiting

The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee recommended a do‑pass on a pilot guaranteed‑basic‑income style program (Senate Bill 102) that would provide $1,500 monthly payments to low‑income pregnant families during pregnancy and until their child’s first birthday, conditional on prenatal care engagement and participation in home visiting programs.

Sponsor Senator José Solís framed the bill as a targeted, evidence‑driven intervention to reduce adverse childhood experiences and early life trauma that research shows drive long‑term health and economic disparities. The bill would prioritize families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and pay benefits for the prenatal period and the child's first year; the measure includes funding for research and evaluative controls so the pilot could produce statistically useful results.

Witnesses included survivors‑advocates who described barriers to reporting and care, academic and public‑health researchers who noted the importance of longitudinal measurement, and committee members who raised questions about control‑group design, participant selection, the administrative burden of enrollment and follow‑up, and whether the program should be universal rather than targeted. The sponsor said the pilot size (roughly 2,000 participants) and embedded evaluation would allow researchers to measure dose effects and longer‑term outcomes; part of the appropriation funds administrative staffing and a research arm.

Committee members split on the measure’s appropriateness and evidence design, with some arguing a randomized or rigorously matched control group is needed to produce convincing causal findings; others said an ethics concern arises when needy families are placed in a non‑beneficiary control group. After discussion the committee recommended the pilot by a 6‑4 vote.