By Taylor Goldenstein, Jen Rice
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is again suing Harris County over its guaranteed income initiative, alleging that the latest version of the program still violates the Texas Constitution despite modifications officials made to pass muster.
“The Texas Constitution expressly prohibits giving away public funds to benefit individuals — a common sense protection to prevent cronyism and ensure that public funds benefit all citizens,” Paxton, a third-term Republican, wrote in the suit. “The State of Texas brings this suit to ensure that Harris County follows the law and that public funds are properly expended and not doled out as door prizes at the voting booth.”
Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee held his ground in a statement he made Thursday on social media.
“Our 1st basic income program was legal. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed, so we created a new program to address concerns,” said Menefee, a Democrat. “If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now: @KenPaxtonTX’s goal is to tank a program that will help Texans in need. We won’t back down. See you in court.”
Uplift Harris, as the local program is called, is designed to give financial assistance to low-income households picked through a randomized lottery. Around 1,900 participants were selected earlier this year to receive $500 monthly payments for 18 months, following a similar guaranteed income model that has been used around the country.
Though the original legal battle over the program is still making its way through the courts, the county decided last month to move forward with a modified program because it’s running out of time to spend the $20.5 million of earmarked funds. The money comes from federal pandemic recovery dollars that must be allocated by the end of the year.
Under the modified plan, the households that were already awaiting payment would receive pre-loaded cards that restrict spending to approved categories.
“That’s not the spirit of a guaranteed income program,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at the time. “That’s why this is Uplift Harris 2.0, not Uplift Harris. But it is a way to keep our promises to these families and we do think it will have a benefit and something that we can study.”
Paxton argued in the suit filed Thursday that Harris County’s revised program still does not meet the criteria for exceptions to Constitution’s prohibition on giving away public funds as gifts because it does not accomplish a public purpose, the county does not have sufficient control over the funds and the county does not receive any return benefit.
Though the Texas Supreme Court has not ruled on the program, in June it strongly signaled a belief that the initiative violates the Texas Constitution.
“Although we make no definitive statement about the merits, the state has raised serious doubt about the constitutionality of the Uplift Harris program, and this potential violation of the Texas Constitution could not be remedied or undone if payments were to commence while the underlying appeal proceeds,” Justice Jimmy Blacklock, a Republican who is running for reelection this year, wrote in a 12-page opinion that kept the program on hold.
The county has defended the initiative, arguing that it will alleviate poverty and the participants were selected by a common method of distributing public funds, a lottery system with eligibility requirements. Harris County officials did not immediately respond to a question about whether any of the funds have been sent out yet.
