Harris County residents won't receive $500 payments after Texas Supreme Court order
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The Texas Supreme Court is temporarily blocking an initiative that would pay $500 in monthly income to poverty-driven residents in Harris County as part of the Uplift Harris County program.
This month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Harris County over the program, which gives money to almost 2,000 residents who live in the highest poverty zip codes. Paxton argued that the "unlawful" program violates the Texas constitution, which forbids “any county, city, town or other political corporation or subdivision of the State … to grant public money or thing of value in aid of, or to any individual.”
“I’m pleased the Supreme Court of Texas has blocked Harris County from disbursing these unlawful payments,” Paxton said in a press release. “I look forward to continuing to defend our Constitution and preventing this egregious misuse of taxpayer money.”
Residents of Harris County, the largest county in Houston, were supposed to begin receiving payments this month.
The Supreme Court today granted an administrative stay in the State's petition for writ of mandamus concerning the #UpliftHarris guaranteed income program. Without regard to the merits, the order prohibits the County from making payments pending further order. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/idE22wNJ0x
— Supreme Court of TX (@SupremeCourt_TX) April 23, 2024
What is a writ of mandamus?
A mandamus is issued by a court to a government agency, public official, or lower court, demanding them to perform a specific act or to stop doing something as required by law.
How much were Harris County residents going to receive?
According to the Harris County website, 1,928 families were been selected from an estimated 83,000 applicants to receive $500 per month for 18 months as part of the program.
Uplift Harris is a guaranteed-income pilot program funded by the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act to address economic inequity and reduce poverty. The pilot was issued in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
How were people selected for the Uplift Harris program?
Applicants were selected in a randomized lottery system.
Households wishing to take part must have an income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line and live in one of the following zip codes in the area:
77050
77093
77051
77060
77028
77033
77026
77081
77547
77091
Harris County Public Health notified applicants who were selected on March 22.
What can the $500 monthly payments be used for?
According to Uplift Harris, participants can use the monthly payments at their own discretion, with the following exceptions:
To buy or support anything that would harm the safety and security of other participants in the Uplift Harris Guaranteed Income Pilot and/or other community members
For the promotion of and/or engagement in any criminal or illegal activities
To support any entities or individuals relating to terrorism
When were Uplift Harris participants going to start receiving the $500 payments?
Participants were to receive their first payments in April and no later than the end of May. However, with the Texas Supreme Court order in place, "first payment will not be delivered as originally planned," according to the website.
"Harris County will continue to defend the Uplift Harris program in court and work to bring much-needed resources to Harris County residents."
Is this the first time a guaranteed-income program of its kind?
No. According to Newsweek, Austin had a guaranteed-income program that paid 135 households $1,000 a month from September 2022 to September 2023.
San Antonio also launched its own pilot in 2020, with the goal of giving 1,000 low-income families $400 every quarter over two years. Both San Antonio and Austin worked with the nonprofit UpTogether to provide relief.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Supreme Court blocks Uplift Harris program after Paxton appeal
