Is it against the Texas Constitution for a city to provide money to its low-income residents?
On Thursday, a judge in Texas state court answered with a definite “no” — the first decision in an ongoing legal battle over that issue.
“There is enough proof to show that guaranteed income programs work, so why wouldn’t we believe it?” Judge Ursula Hall said.
In her decision, Hall blocked an effort by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to prevent Harris County — the most populous county in the state and the location of Houston — from enacting Uplift Harris, which would offer $500 per week to 1,900 low-income residents.
“Proud to defend an important program that will help people lift themselves out of poverty,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee expressed on Thursday. wrote Thursday on the social platform X.
“The state will appeal. But we will keep fighting,” he added.
The Harris County measure followed similar experiments with guaranteed income in Austin, El Paso, and San Antonio, according to The Texas Tribune. The Austin experiment discovered that recipients who had been more likely to face eviction than the average Texan when the study began became more housing secure as their peers across Texas faced worsening housing insecurity, a report on the program by the Urban Institute found. (Their food security increased, as well.) The researchers found that the Austin recipients largely spent the money on housing, and most kept their current employment. followed similar experiments with guaranteed income in Austin, El Paso and San Antonio, according to The Texas Tribune. The Austin experiment found that recipients — who had been more likely to face eviction than the average Texan when the study began — became more housing secure as their peers across Texas faced worsening housing insecurity, a report on the program by the Urban Institute found. (Their food security increased, as well.) The researchers found that the Austin recipients largely spent the money on housing, and most kept their current employment. report on the program by the Urban Institute found.
In a filing earlier this month, Paxton argued this was “plainly unconstitutional” and accused Harris County officials of “abusing public funds for political gain.”
“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, Paxton said in a statement.
His lawsuit suggested the surprising possibility that the plan was unconstitutional not because it was basic income, but because it wasn’t universal. “The Constitution also provides that everyone has ‘equal rights, and no man, or set of men, is entitled to exclusive separate public emoluments,'” Paxton wrote, adding that “this lottery-based handout violates the Texas Constitution because the selection of recipients is inherently arbitrary.
The lawsuit from the state attorney general’s office marked yet another in a long stream of actions by the office against cities for what have traditionally been seen as issues of local authority.
For example, a suit the AG’s office filed last month argued that Austin’s plan to use of certain financial tools to build a light-rail system was “void” because it allegedly violated state law, and earlier this year he sued five Texas cities that had decriminalized marijuana enforcement. In statements after the suit was announced, Harris County officials focused on the question of local control. “Giving people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty is both morally sound and good public policy, Menefee said earlier this month. “Politicians in Austin traveling to Harris County just to stop us from helping people is absurd.”
And in a conversation with The Hill, Menefee pointed out that Paxton’s position was paradoxical considering that the attorney general is a strong political supporter of former President Trump — who oversaw the COVID-19 era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
While not explicitly a fundamental income program, the PPP
involved $757 billion
in forgiven loans to American small businesses. Uplift Harris is funded by money Houston received under the American Rescue Plan, a COVID-era stimulus package. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo (D) repeated a standing invitation to Paxton’s office. “My invitation still stands to introduce the Attorney General to some of the hardworking families who can’t pay the bills without this aid,” she stated
Like Menefee, she anticipated the next move to be an appellate court but stated “we will keep fighting for Uplift Harris every step of the way.” Is it a violation of the Texas Constitution for a city to give money to its low-income residents? On Thursday, a Texas state court judge answered with a definite “no” — the first ruling in what is shaping up to be a long legal battle over that issue. “There is enough evidence to show that guaranteed….
Like Menefee, she said she expected the next step to be an appellate court but said “we will keep fighting for Uplift Harris every step of the way.”
