ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester City Council has signed off on a plan for Guaranteed Basic Income.

The two-year pilot program will give $500 per month to 175 families. To qualify, those families must live at, or below, 200% of the federal poverty line. They will receive the monthly payment for one year.

Another 175 other families would receive the payments for the second year of the program.  

Rochester joins other cities around the state and country that have implemented similar programs, including Ithaca, Newark, New Jersey and Los Angeles.

Rochester Mayor-elect Malik Evans plans to approach philanthropists to see if they will help expand the program.