|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Harris County on Tuesday, seeking to block its guaranteed income program, which he calls unconstitutional.
“This scheme is plainly unconstitutional,” Paxton said in a statement. “Taxpayer money must be spent lawfully and used to advance the public interest, not merely redistributed with no accountability or reasonable expectation of a general benefit. I am suing to stop officials in Harris County from abusing public funds for political gain.”
The attorney general said the Texas Constitution forbids any county, city or political subdivision from granting public money or “thing of value in aid of, or to any individual.”
The guaranteed income program known as Uplift Harris will award a $500 monthly stipend to more than 1,900 low-income households in hopes of providing a financial cushion that can help close the wealth gap.
‘No such thing as free money’
Paxton’s lawsuit comes nearly three months after Sen. Paul Bettencourt sent a letter to the Attorney General in January, asking for an opinion on whether counties are allowed to offer guaranteed income programs and if it would violate a clause in the Texas constitution that prohibits the gift of public funds to any individual.
The lawsuit, which refers to Uplift Harris as the “Harris Handout,” alleges that it is an “illegitimate government overreach” and that county officials implemented the program to gain “door prizes at the voting booth.”
Paxton argues that Texas counties have limited legal authority to implement a program like Uplift Harris and that it doesn’t accomplish a public purpose, nor one that directly benefits the county. The lawsuit also argues that the random lottery system to select applicants is unlawful.
“There is no such thing as free money — especially in Texas,” the lawsuit said. “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.”
The state is seeking an immediate ruling to block Harris County from making payments to program participants, officials said. A hearing is expected to take place within the next few weeks.
‘Another attack on Harris County’
Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said in a statement that Uplift Harris was designed to help people and that he does not understand why an elected official would oppose that.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than another attack on Harris County government by Republican state leaders looking to make headlines,” Menefee said. “When corporations are given taxpayer dollars Republican leaders in Austin call it ‘economic development.’ When governments use federal dollars to actually help people, Republican leaders in Austin call it socialism.”
Uplift Harris, is being funded through $20.5 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. It will run for 18 months and provide the stipends to randomly selected households that live below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. An individual below that threshold would make under $29,160 a year; a family of four would be under $60,000.
What is Uplift Harris?
The monthly stipend would come with virtually no spending restrictions aside from prohibitions on anything that would harm the safety and security of others, involves criminal activity or supports terrorism. Recipients of the program had recently been notified, and the first payments were expected to go out at the end of the month.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who has championed Uplift Harris from its start, said in a statement that he is prepared to fight the lawsuit “all the way to the Texas Supreme Court.”
“This lawsuit from Ken Paxton reads more like a MAGA manifesto than a legal document,” Ellis said. “The reality is that Austin extremists like Ken Paxton could care less about the constitutionality of Uplift Harris; what they care about is maintaining a system that favors billionaires and starves working families of the support they need to thrive.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called Paxton’s suit “nonsensical” and pointed to other areas across the state, like Austin and San Antonio, that implemented guaranteed income programs without problems.
“I feel for these families whose plans and livelihoods are being caught up in political posturing by Trumpian leaders in Texas,” Hidalgo said in a statement.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, who has long been critical of Uplift Harris, said creating a lottery-based program with no spending restrictions was “bad public policy” and that the money should have been put toward something like the jail, which county officials have clear jurisdiction over.
“Using tax dollars to create new programs that benefit only a few – when we can’t even take care of the programs we already have – is irresponsible,” the Republican said. “It should come as no surprise that the state of Texas is having to step in and enforce the law because in Harris County we have leadership who has trouble following it.”
Commissioner Lesley Briones did not respond to request for comment. Harris County Public Health and Commissioner Adrian Garcia declined to comment.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
