| Houston, Texas — Today, the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion further extending its initial pause of Harris County’s Uplift Harris guaranteed income program. Uplift Harris is a pilot guaranteed income program in which around 1,900 low-income Harris County residents would receive $500 a month for eighteen months. The program was inspired by similar initiatives around the country and the state, including in the City of Austin and Cook County, Illinois. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Harris County in April to block Uplift Harris payments from going out, claiming that the program violated the Texas Constitution’s ban on the gift of public funds and equal protection clause. The trial court denied the State’s proposed temporary injunction, and the Fourteenth Court of Appeals rejected the State’s attempt to pause the program while its appeal was pending. The Court’s ruling today blocks the program while it considers Paxton’s petition for a writ of mandamus that would pause the program for the duration of the State’s appeal. The Court claims the program’s “no strings attached” nature means that the County doesn’t retain controls sufficient to make the payments constitutional. “I am extremely disappointed by the Texas Supreme Court’s decision today,” said Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee. “Uplift Harris is a poverty alleviation program modeled on other guaranteed income programs across the country. Local governments exist in part to help the less fortunate among us, and the Supreme Court’s ruling effectively ends a program that has proven to be highly successful at allowing lower income folks to lift themselves out of poverty.” “The ruling also sets a dangerous precedent—most state constitutions have bans on gifting public funds, but no other state court has barred guaranteed programs on those grounds. And of course, they haven’t, because those bans are there to stop cronyism and gratuitous gifts of tax dollars. They aren’t intended to stop governments from providing public benefits. This ruling creates a playbook for conservatives who want to stop the government from fulfilling one of its core functions.” County Attorney Menefee will continue to litigate against Paxton’s efforts to permanently block Uplift Harris, and will advise Commissioners Court on the potential implications of this ruling for the future of the program. |