The Texas Supreme Court issued an emergency stay telling Democrat-controlled Harris County not to launch a guaranteed income program, blocking the county from issuing payments until further action is carried out by the court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier this month filed a lawsuit seeking an immediate ruling to block Uplift Harris, the guaranteed income program, to send out the payments to residents, arguing that it violates the constitutions of both the United States and Texas. The state supreme court granted his request on Tuesday, coming a day before the payments were supposed to be sent out.
“Without regard to the merits, the court grants an administrative stay as follows: Real parties in interest and their agents are prohibited from making payments under the Uplift Harris program pending further order of this Court,” the Texas Supreme Court said in its ruling, which is temporary. “Without regard to the merits, the order prohibits the County from making payments pending further order.”
The order blocking the payments is expected to last for at least one week. The court asked Harris County to respond to the Republican attorney general’s request by April 29.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat, announced the program in 2023 that would randomly select 1,900 residents in the county to receive $500 cash payments for 18 months. The money came from the $20.5 million slush fund that Harris County received via the American Rescue Plan that was passed in Congress in 2021 and was designed to be used for COVID-19 relief programs.
Reactions
Responding to the Texas Supreme Court’s decision, Mr. Paxton described the cash payments as “unlawful” and in violation of “our Constitution.”
“I’m pleased the Supreme Court of Texas has blocked Harris County from disbursing these unlawful payments,” Mr. Paxton said in a statement Tuesday. “I look forward to continuing to defend our Constitution and preventing this egregious misuse of taxpayer money.”
In defending the program, officials in Harris County, which encompasses Houston, have said Uplift Harris designed to help households in the county’s poorest ZIP codes who are 200 percent below the federal poverty line ($15,060 for an individual, up to $31,200 for a family of four).
But right before the state supreme court’s order, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, wrote on social media that the county has “sent out the first $500 payments to recipients of our Uplift Harris guaranteed income program,” adding that the county “will keep fighting to ensure we can continue making this life changing investment in the people of Harris County.”
“We were racing to get at least one payment out the door, but unfortunately we were not able to process them before the supreme court order came down. We will continue to fight to get these 1,900 families the support they need and deserve,” he added later on social media.
Meanwhile, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat, said during a Tuesday press conference that the county’s “public health director had her finger on the button, so to speak, but before the funds began transferring, the supreme court made its ruling.”
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said in a statement that the supreme court ruling is “disappointing,” but claimed the state court has become “politicized” in recent years. “It’s unfortunate the court would take such an extraordinary step to block a program that would help people in Harris County—even temporarily,” the official added.
“The court knew that the first payments were scheduled to go out tomorrow. I will keep fighting to protect this program, and I look forward to continuing to argue that Uplift Harris is good legally and morally,” he said.
Attorneys for the state have argued in court filings that taxpayer money must be used in the public interest to provide a general benefit. They argued that the Harris County program is a form of wealth redistribution that violates the Texas Constitution.
“The payments have ‘no strings attached,’ and the recipients can use the money however they wish,” the attorney general’s office wrote in the filing. “Finally, Harris County has neither received nor will receive any return benefit from monthly cash handouts to 1,928 individuals.”
Under the program, they argued, “the selection of individuals to receive payments under the Harris Handout is plainly arbitrary. While the initial eligibility criteria might be considered valid classifications, Defendants cross the line from rational to arbitrary by selecting participants by random lottery.”
