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One of the members of the Harris County, Texas governing physique stood alone in rejecting a assured earnings program, arguing that the $20 million that was used for this system ought to’ve been redirected someplace else.
“I’m an engineer with 40-something years experience, working with 20 counties in Texas, 50 cities in Texas. And what I do know is $20 million could have been taken to any underserved neighborhood in Harris County and would have been helpful for [15 to 20,000] people — ten times as many people could have been helped,” Tom Ramsey of Precinct 3 advised Fresh News Digital.
The assured earnings program known as Uplift Harris, which handed the Harris County Commissioners Court by a 4-1 vote final 12 months, was funded with $20.5 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Houston, the most important metropolis in Texas, makes up most of Harris County’s inhabitants.
The Harris County Commissioners Court is an elected physique of 4 policymaking actors and the county choose that meets bi-weekly to serve Harris County, Texas. The county choose serves because the county’s chief govt officer.
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Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit claimed that “Uplift Harris,” a assured earnings program established in Harris County, was “unconstitutional.” The lawsuit sought an “immediate ruling to block Uplift Harris from beginning to make payments under the program.” (MediaNews Group/Boston Herald/Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
Last week, the commissioners have been reportedly trying to revive Uplift Harris after it was struck down by the Texas Supreme Court.
Harris County officers met to debate reviving this system, however would place some spending restrictions on contributors. The proposed restrictions have been to restrict the funds to accredited spending classes, a transfer that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo mentioned ought to forestall any authorized challenges towards this system.
The Harris County Commissioners Court final week introduced up two choices for reviving Uplift Harris. One of them is re-enrolling contributors with a debit card and inserting stricter restrictions on spending, in keeping with Houston Public Media.
Many of the members of the Commissioners Court supported this feature, the Houston Landing reported.
“The second option would require requiring a new application and selection process, as well as a new vendor to operate the program,” in keeping with the outlet.
The new program has not been accredited but. The commissioners will focus on particulars in regards to the proposed revisions to Uplift Harris additional on the subsequent scheduled Commissioners Court assembly, a spokesperson advised Fresh News Digital.
Ramsey added that the info doesn’t present that assured earnings packages work.
“They don’t change anything. You look at the data in terms of where they are two years later, three years later, it hadn’t happened,” he mentioned.
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Austin, Texas, not too long ago applied a assured earnings program in 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
A latest survey confirmed that Austin, Texas’ assured earnings program helped deal with the issue of housing insecurity within the metropolis. Austin’s metropolis council in April accredited a $1.3-million contract to maintain its assured earnings program operating after it launched in 2022.
Some research have proven that the pilots have produced optimistic outcomes, Fresh News Digital beforehand reported.
However, a few of these packages face funding and authorized challenges, together with a assured earnings program in St. Louis that was halted on account of a court docket order final month.
The effort to revive Uplift Harris got here after the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling in June that prohibited Harris County from working this system.
The court docket raised “serious doubt” in regards to the constitutional deserves of this system.
Uplift Harris was by no means capable of distribute the funds because of the court docket order. It would have distributed $500 per thirty days for 18 months to chose contributors, The program began on Jan. 12, and enrolled over 1,900 candidates amongst a pool of greater than 85,000 purposes.
The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling on Uplift Harris got here after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit arguing that Uplift Harris is “plainly unconstitutional.” Paxton’s lawsuit stemmed from Republican State Sen. Paul Bettencourt urging the lawyer common to overview Uplift Harris’ constitutional deserves.
Ramsey, the one Republican within the Harris County Commissioners Court, argued additional that his fellow Harris County commissioners are attempting to “sidestep” the lawyer common’s considerations about this system.
“All they’re trying to do is sidestep the attorney general’s concerns related to it,” Ramsey mentioned.
He continued, “I’m glad he did it. I hope he’s paying attention. I’ll hope he’ll engage at this point and see it for what it is. But, I don’t think any of my concerns have been addressed in terms of who is being considered and the big scope of it. Twenty million dollars could change a neighborhood for 50 years.”
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee defended a assured earnings program that’s been focused in a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday. (Harris County lawyer common’s workplace/Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
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In response to Harris County Commissioners Court efforts to revive Uplift Harris, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee advised Fresh News Digital that the “current program is legal.”
“The county may create a new program with spending restrictions to address politically charged challenges brought by Republican officials. It is my hope that this new program will not bring another lawsuit from the AG, and allow Harris County residents to receive much needed relief,” Menefee advised Fresh News Digital.
Menefee beforehand defended this system towards Paxton’s lawsuit, arguing that the Texas Constitution accommodates present state statutes enabling counties to situation money help that serves a “public purpose designed to benefit the entire county.”
