The Harris County Commissioners Court voted along partisan lines last week to revive a guaranteed basic income (GBI) program for select residents with more restrictions and higher costs, although a previous version was halted by state courts earlier this year.
Under the original version of the program, named Uplift Harris, the county planned to send “no-strings-attached” $500 monthly stipends to 1,928 recipients for 18 months, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the program last April. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) halted the plan indefinitely.
Now Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo says the revised program, Uplift Harris 2.0, will provide preloaded cards with restrictions on how the funds may be spent.
“That’s not the spirit of a guaranteed income program,” said Hidalgo. “If the state gets in the way of this and the program becomes stuck in court again then the funds will be reallocated to programs that already exist to support people living in poverty.”
Hidalgo did not specify the restrictions on how recipients could spend funds but said the debit cards could be used for “medicine, groceries, et cetera.” The county has not yet published details of the revised GBI.
Commissioners will cover the costs of Uplift Harris with nearly $21 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, of which $17,350,000 will be distributed to selected residents and $1 million will fund a study of the program’s effectiveness.
Administrative costs charged by nonprofit GiveDirectly were originally $1,740,500, but under the revised GBI will rise another $400,000.
Commissioner Tom Ramsey (R-Pct. 3) cast the only vote against the program.
“I just think this money could be much better spent,” said Ramsey, who suggested using the funds to ameliorate ongoing problems at the county jail or to bolster mental health services for inmates.
Applicants for Uplift Harris must earn below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, or $60,000 for a household of four. Those eligible had to either reside in one of 10 high-poverty ZIP codes or already participate in the county’s Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency (ACCESS) program.
The Harris County Public Health Department used a lottery system to select recipients from the more than 80,000 residents who applied for the original version of Uplift Harris, and Hildalgo said the same recipients would receive the debit cards.
Paxton challenged the county’s original UBI on the basis that the Texas Constitution explicitly precludes counties from granting “public money or thing of value” to individuals, associations or corporations. In the SCOTX opinion blocking Uplift Harris last June, Justice James Blacklock specifically noted that “a government in Texas that desires to dole out public funds must, among other things, ‘retain public control over the funds to ensure the public purpose is accomplished and to protect the public’s investment,’” but that Harris County has expressly advertised the UBI as being “no-strings-attached.”
During last week’s meeting, Ramsey asked the Harris County Attorney’s Office how much the county had spent in legal expenses fighting to preserve the program, but Deputy County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne said he did have an exact cost. A representative of Ramsey’s office told The Texan that they had not yet received the information as of Monday afternoon.
Last year commissioners sparred over whether the county’s GBI would be available to illegal immigrants, but under Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, non-U.S. nationals are not eligible for most federal benefits. Earlier this year Hidalgo suggested a future program might allow benefits for illegal residents.
GiveDirectly also administered a Cook County program that reportedly offered guaranteed income to illegal immigrants. Federal law does not require nonprofit organizations to check immigration status before providing services or resources.
Last year, GiveDirectly had to suspend operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after learning that some staff and former employees had stolen $900,000 in a fraud scheme.
Next month, commissioners will consider proposals for the Fiscal Year 2025 budget that includes a 13 percent tax increase, although voters must approve the proposed increase for the Harris County Flood Control District. Even with the tax increases, the county faces an estimated $129 million deficit and plans cuts to multiple departments.
