Throughout the 16-page lawsuit, Paxton referred to Harris County's program as "Harris Handout" and described it in a news release as an "unlawful guaranteed income program that redistributes public money in a manner that violates the Texas Constitution."
"This scheme is plainly unconstitutional," Paxton said in the news release. “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. I am suing to stop officials in Harris County from abusing public funds for political gain.”
The gist
More than 1,900 eligible Harris County households living below 200% of the federal poverty line, or approximately $60,000 for a family of four, were selected from a two-stage lottery system as award recipients for Uplift Harris. Harris County Public Health received more than 82,500 applications in total.
Qualified families under the guaranteed income program will be given $500 per month for 18 consecutive months.
Sen. Paul Betterncourt, R-Houston, said in a news release that Uplift Harris violated the "gift clause" of the Texas Constitution and is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Funding for the $20.5 million program was allocated by local and state funds from the American Rescue Plan Act as part of the county’s broader strategy to address the region’s economic inequality.
The other side
When the program's application period closed in February, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a news release that reducing poverty and helping families who are struggling to meet basic needs shouldn't be a political debate.
