(TruthAndLiberty.com) – The Texas Supreme Court had issued a ruling that would prohibit Harris County from launching a guaranteed income program. Attorney General Ken Paxton is now looking to dispute the recent decision.
The House County Judge Ursula Hall had only days prior to this ruling struck down the arguments made by Paxton regarding the Uplift Harris program being unconstitutional. The program gives a monthly stipend to more than 1,900 low-income residents.
Houston Landing reported that Hall had claimed that in cases where a program has a public benefit it could not be considered unconstitutional. However, Paxton’s legal team has argued that taxpayer money needed to be used to provide general benefits.
Last year, the Harris County Commissioners Court had in a 4-1 vote passed Uplift Harris. This guaranteed income pilot would provide households that are part of the program $500 which will be received monthly for a period of a year and a half. The program first started on Jan. 12 and it currently has 1,924 applicants that are enrolled.
Paxton had previously filed a lawsuit where he was looking for an immediate ruling to block Uplift Harris from providing the program payments. This is something the state’s Supreme Court had agreed to.
The organization UpTogether, which is aiming to invest in people that are in historically undervalued communities through mobilizing systems for change and influencing policies, had responded to the court’s ruling on Tuesday arguing that this was a “shameful” decision.
UpTogether CEO Jesús Gerena had claimed that the “shameful decision” they had made that day would mean that thousands of people in Texas who were struggling financially, would be denied the opportunity to have greater financial stability and potentially upward mobility. He noted that by blocking this plan, the state Supreme Court had not shown any judicial restraint and had joined Ken Paxton in his circus show.
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