A universal basic income pilot program that would sprinkle $100 million across the state in the form of no less than $500 monthly cash payments to certain low-income Minnesotans — including illegal immigrants — advanced in a state House committee on Tuesday.

Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, introduced HF2666 last year. The bill didn’t receive a hearing amidst a historic legislative session where Democrats spent down a $17.5 billion surplus and increased the state budget by more than 38 percent. But with news earlier this month that the state has a projected $3.7 billion surplus, Hollins’ bill received a hearing in the House Children and Families Committee.

The bill passed through the committee on a voice vote. Its next stop is the House Human Services Finance Committee. Its Senate companion bill is sponsored by five Senate Democrats and has yet to be scheduled for a hearing.

“In general, this is a basic income grant program for the entire state of Minnesota,” said Hollins, a two-term lawmaker who represents portions of north St. Paul that run from the Como neighborhood to just east of I-35E.