\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2025950386-e1712706410542.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 attorney general filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to stop a guaranteed income program set to start this month for Houston-area residents.<\/p>\n
The program by Harris County, where Houston is located, is set to provide \u201cno-strings-attached\u201d $500 monthly cash payments to 1,928 county residents for 18 months. Those who qualified for the program must have a household income below 200% of the federal poverty line and need to live in one of the identified high-poverty zip codes.<\/p>\n
The program is funded by $20.5 million from the American Rescue Plan,\u00a0the pandemic relief law<\/a>\u00a0signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.<\/p>\n Federal pandemic funding has prompted\u00a0dozens of cities and counties across the country<\/a>\u00a0to implement guaranteed income programs as ways to reduce poverty, lessen inequality and get people working.<\/p>\n In his lawsuit filed in civil court in Houston, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton dubbed the program the \u201cHarris Handout\u201d and described it as a \u201csocialist experiment\u201d by county officials that violates the Texas Constitution and is \u201can illegal and illegitimate government overreach.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis scheme is plainly unconstitutional,\u201d Paxton said in a statement. \u201cTaxpayer 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.\u201d<\/p>\n State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Republican from Houston who had asked Paxton to look into the county\u2019s program, called it an \u201cunbelievable waste\u201d of taxpayer dollars and \u201cLottery Socialism.\u201d<\/p>\n Harris County officials pushed back on Paxton\u2019s lawsuit, which is asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the program. The first payments were set to be distributed as early as April 24.<\/p>\n Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county\u2019s top elected official, said guaranteed income is one of the oldest and most successful anti-poverty programs, and she feels \u201cfor these families whose plans and livelihoods are being caught up in political posturing by Trumpian leaders in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis lawsuit from Ken Paxton reads more like a MAGA manifesto than a legal document,\u201d said Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who spearheaded the program, known as Uplift Harris.<\/p>\n Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said the program \u201cis about helping people in a real way by giving them direct cash assistance \u2014 something governments have always done.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit is the latest legal battle in recent years between Harris County, Texas\u2019 biggest Democratic stronghold, and the GOP-dominated state government.<\/p>\n Elections in the nation\u2019s third-most populous county have been scrutinized for several years now. The Texas Legislature\u00a0passed new laws<\/a>\u00a0in 2023 seeking more influence over Harris County elections.<\/p>\n Last year, Texas\u00a0took over the Houston school district<\/a>, the state\u2019s largest, after years of threats and lawsuits over student performance. Democrats assailed the move as political.<\/p>\n Austin<\/a>\u00a0and San Antonio have previously offered guaranteed income programs in Texas. El Paso County is set to roll out its own program later this year. No lawsuits have been filed against those programs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the new Fortune CEO Weekly Europe newsletter to get corner office insights on the biggest business stories in Europe. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n