By WhisperToMe - Own work, Public Domain, Link
In a turn of events that's fired up the legal circles in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a hold from the Texas Supreme Court against a "guaranteed income" program initiated by Harris County, effectively freezing the county's plans to doll out cash with no strings attached. After Paxton filed a lawsuit in April 2024 claiming the program goes against the grain of the Texas Constitution, which specifically bars local entities from dishing out public funds to individuals, the state's high court has put the brakes on "Uplift Harris," a program with an aim to provide $500 monthly payments to selected residents for a year and a half.
The program, before it hit the legal wall, was open to a diverse set of residents, including noncitizens, 1,928 of whom would have received the regular payments; however, after a lower court turned away the state's plea for immediate suspension, Paxton dashed to the Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) for an emergency motion to put an end to what he called a “clear and flagrant violation of the Texas Constitution” and, in what felt like a swift stroke of justice—seeing as the SCOTX had already issued a temporary stay—Paxton's request was granted, with the court ordering cessation of all payments under the so-called "Uplift Harris" program, as stated in a press release.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, in buoyant spirits over the court's decision, declared that the intervention by SCOTX "put a stop to this abuse of power and unlawful use of taxpayer money while the case continues," reinforcing his narrative that the county's program violates constitutional directives around financial assistance; at the heart of Paxton's argument is the Texas Constitution's standing prohibition against counties or cities extending public money or things of value to individual persons, which served as the cornerstone of his successful petition for a stay against Harris County's fiscal overtures.
The decision has thrown a significant wrench into the gears of Harris County's “Uplift Harris,” and while supporters of the program view it as a lifeline for those in precarious financial situations, Paxton and the SCOTX's recent action underscores the complex legal ground that makes state constitutions and the sought-for benevolence of counties, uneasy bedfellows. Details on how this legal tug-of-war will unfold are still emerging, but it's clear that the court's stop order has, at least for now, brought an abrupt halt to Harris County's much-contested initiative.
