HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit to block Harris County’s “Community Prosperity” program, which aims to provide $500 monthly payments to nearly 2,000 low-income families. The program targets families living below 200% of the federal poverty line, using preloaded debit cards.
The “Community Prosperity” initiative is a revised version of the county’s earlier “Uplift Harris” plan, which Paxton had previously challenged in April. He argued that the original program violated the Texas Constitution by granting public funds directly to individuals.
The Texas Supreme Court then ordered to pause the original plan.
In response to the court order, Harris County adjusted the program by adding spending restrictions to the debit cards and planned to launch the revised version in January, using $20 million in federal COVID-19 recovery funds. Despite these changes, Paxton has continued to argue that the revised plan remains unconstitutional.
The latest lawsuit led the Fifteenth Court of Appeals to issue a ruling on December 6, halting the program while the legal dispute is ongoing.
“Harris County is not above the law and cannot ignore the Texas Constitution,” Paxton stated. “They made a blatant attempt to end-run a Texas Supreme Court ruling by duplicating their unlawful handout program, and we have successfully blocked them yet again,” he said.
The program will remain on hold while the court reviews Paxton’s appeal, which has been expedited. Both sides are required to submit arguments within two weeks.
“I don’t want the families to have sort of false hope,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said during a meeting. “We’re doing everything we can.”
