Harris County is set to potentially kickstart a revised version of its guaranteed income initiative, despite a previous legal challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Dubbed Uplift Harris 2.0, the new program will see selected households receiving pre-loaded cards that restrict where they can spend their money. The change comes after Paxton's lawsuit labeled the original program as a "socialist experiment," putting it on hold. "There is no such thing as free money — especially in Texas," Paxton’s office wrote in the petition, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
According to the Houston Public Media, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has expressed that this version of the program should help to circumvent any potential legal issues. "Of course, that’s not the spirit of a guaranteed income program but it will be helpful and that would help us be able to provide those dollars that those almost 2,000 low-income families were already counting on and had budgeted for," Hidalgo said during a commissioners court meeting.
The initial Uplift Harris initiative was designed to allot $500 monthly payments to about 1,900 participants for a duration of 18 months. It was meant to be funded by $20.5 million from federal pandemic recovery dollars with an end-of-year deadline for allocation. The demand for the program was significant, with more than 82,000 applicants for the limited spots.
Despite the controversy, some local officials remain dedicated to the cause of mitigating poverty in the region. Hidalgo mentioned that if the state were to challenge the modified program, the county is prepared to quickly adapt and reallocate the funds to other existing programs that support people living in poverty. As she told the Houston Chronicle, "That's not the spirit of a guaranteed income program. But it is a way to quickly keep our promises to these families and we do think it will have a benefit and something that we can study."
The decision to revise the program comes after much debate and a 4-1 vote in favor by the Commissioners Court, with Republican Commissioner Tom Ramsey opposing. In alignment with his stance, Ramsey questioned the long-term efficacy of unconditional cash payments. "I will not be supporting the motion and I think from what I can read about these kinds of programs they really show that unconditional cash payments, while of course being beneficial in the moment, have few positive long-term benefits according to one or two studies out there so I will not be supporting the motion," he explained as detailed by Houston Public Media.
