Texas high court halts Uplift Harris
Temporary order sides with Paxton’s request to stop payments to county’s low-income families
The Supreme Court of Texas has temporarily blocked Harris County’s new guaranteed income program, Uplift Harris, after two lower courts denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s requests to stop the payments.
Paxton sued Harris County earlier this month, alleging its new income program violates a state law that prohibits the gift of public funds to any individual.
Harris County had selected and notified recipients and was preparing to mail the first $500 monthly checks this week. Paxton sought court action to block that move, but a Harris County district judge and the 14th Court of Appeals rejected his requests.
The Supreme Court of Texas sided with Paxton on Tuesday, granting a temporary pause while the court considers the legal arguments. Supreme Court justices are elected statewide, and all nine members currently are Republicans.
“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 court said in a short order.
Paxton celebrated the court order, saying he looked “forward to continuing to defend our Constitution and preventing
this egregious misuse of taxpayer money.”
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the county’s public health department was in the process of sending out the checks when the program came to an abrupt halt.
“Our public health director pressed the button, so to speak, but before the funds began transferring, the Supreme Court made its ruling,” Hidalgo said.
Paxton’s office has argued that the program doesn’t have sufficient controls in place over how the funds are spent.
Hidalgo added on Tuesday that around 300 households selected for the program were not going to receive the payment this week because they had not completed the required paperwork.
“That just underscores how this program carefully vets the applicants,” Hidalgo said.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who championed Uplift Harris, said the court’s decision was a major setback for low-income families waiting on those checks.
“I am incredibly disappointed in today’s ruling. This frivolous lawsuit was a broadside attack on Harris County families struggling to make ends meet by state extremists and a hyper-partisan Texas Supreme Court,” Ellis said Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, Paxton argued the program was clearly illegal.
“Harris County’s guaranteed income scheme plainly violates the Texas Constitution,” he said in a statement before the court’s ruling. “Harris County officials cannot continue to abuse their power and the people’s
money to score political points, and we will fight every step of the way to hold them accountable.”
Other Texas entities, including Austin and San Antonio, also have versions of a guaranteed income program, and yet Paxton has thus far not sued to stop those programs. Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said Tuesday that Paxton had singled out Harris County and was impeding efforts to implement programs that residents support.
“The only silver lining in this is that people recognize just how out of touch (Paxton) is,” Garcia said.
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and other county officials have said Paxton and state leadership are hypocritical in attacking the guaranteed income program. They argue the state is fine with giving handouts to companies, but not to working families.
Menefee said Tuesday the court’s order was not surprising “given how politicized we’ve seen the Texas Supreme Court become.” He was referring to a speech made by Justice John Devine, who argued Harris County “bastardized” elections laws and
suggested Democrats would cheat in coming elections, according to the Texas Tribune.
He added that the Supreme Court justices do have reason to worry about ruling against Paxton.
After the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in 2021 that Paxton did not have unilateral authority to prosecute election crimes, Paxton successfully pushed to oust the three Republican incumbents on the court who were up for election this year. All three lost their races in the March primary.
Still, Menefee said the county’s fight to defend the guaranteed income program was far from over.
“I do not expect that we’re going to get a fair shot, but we’re going to do everything we can in the courtroom to ensure that the legal arguments are made and that this program is protected,” Menefee said.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, who has also advocated for Uplift Harris, reiterated Menefee’s legal battle cry.
“As a lawyer and a former judge, I look forward to our day in court,” said Briones.