A Texas state lawmaker believes that a universal basic income program pushed at the county level violates the state constitution.
"We just can't hand out money like popcorn on street corners to people that walk by," Republican State Sen. Paul Bettencourt told Fox News Digital.
"If you advertise what's clearly a no-strings universal basic income, and you do a lottery by zip codes, I'm very concerned that that is just fundamentally violating the gift clause of the [Texas] Constitution, which says the state can't give money with no strings attached."
The program Bettencourt is referring to is a guaranteed income program called Uplift Harris. The program passed by a vote of 4-1 in Harris County Commissioners Court last year.
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Bettencourt’s comments came after he penned a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton the same day as the program was enacted in Harris County, requesting the attorney general to issue an opinion on whether counties have the authority to enact such a program.
"Would such a policy violate the gift prohibition clause in the Texas Constitution?" Bettencourt asked in the letter.
Article 3, section 47 of the Texas Constitution prohibits lotteries and gift enterprises in the state with a few listed exceptions.
Uplift Harris is a guaranteed income pilot that would allow participating households to receive $500 per month for 18 months. The program began on January 12, 2024, and is available to 1,924 applicants.
The program received over 59,000 applications, a local FOX affiliate reported.
Applicants to the Uplift Harris program will be "randomly selected through a lottery process," their website states.
Bettencourt said Harris County is "taking 1,900 families and effectively giving them 20 plus million dollars."
Considering that over 59,000 people applied for just over 1,900 available spots, Bettencourt asked, how does the government decide who wins and who loses?
"I don't like the concept of what I would call lottery socialism here because it's based on specific zip codes, and it's no strings attached," Bettencourt told Fox News Digital. "And that's why I'm concerned about the gift clause of the [Texas] Constitution."
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Uplift Harris stated on their website that similar programs across the country have shown that they are financially and socially beneficial to participants.
Recently, a guaranteed income program in Austin, Texas helped address the problem of housing insecurity in the city, according to a new survey.
The program, which was launched as a pilot, issued $1,000 monthly checks to 85 households who were at risk of losing their homes. After the Austin City Council launched the measure in 2022, the state capital became the first major city in Texas to use tax dollars to fund "guaranteed income" programs. The city of Austin explained on its website that the guaranteed income programs "act as a springboard for participants to find a way out of poverty to greater economic mobility and housing stability."
Bettencourt explained that comparing Austin’s guaranteed income program with the one enacted in Harris County is like "comparing apples to oranges."
"The point I'm making about counties involved with universal basic income is that it hasn't happened before," Bettencourt said. "We don't have anyone else in the state besides Harris doing that. And counties are different than home-rule cities. The state gives [counties] the authority as an extension of the state to do certain tasks."
Bettencourt raised concern that the largest county in the state is looking at a guaranteed income program with no strings attached, and how more counties could consider starting a similar program. He also worried about the financial cost if the program was expanded to all 60,000 applicants.
"That's a $600 million expenditure and that would have to be done by county property tax money. So these are important issues to decide before we just get involved in a discussion of what people think is a solution to a problem, but without ignoring whether the solution is legal in the first place," he said. "Unfortunately, the county judge down here was talking about expanding the program, to cover people that crossed the border illegally. Now, there's just not enough money in anybody's governmental budget for all of this."
Uplift Harris excluded undocumented immigrants because the program is federally funded using COVID-19 funds. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo reportedly wants an "alternative cash assistance program" to cover those who are ineligible for Uplift Harris.
"I know that these days the politically hot topic is to malign immigrants," Hidalgo said. "But these immigrants, if they're living in poverty, they're living in poverty… And supporting them helps all of us and has good downstream effects on all of us, so I just don't think we ought to leave them out."
Bettencourt told Fox News Digital that, at this point, Paxton is gathering an opinion on the matter. If the attorney general agrees with Bettencourt’s position, then the county will either have to close the program or argue for its merits in court.
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Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee sent Fox News Digital a statement about the matter.
"Both federal and Texas laws authorize Harris County to use ARPA dollars to help residents through our guaranteed income pilot program," Menefee said.
He added, "Studies of direct payment programs—like the stimulus checks issued by former President Donald Trump—show that most people use the money on housing and other basic needs. I have presented our legal position to the Texas attorney general, and I hope that he gives us a fair shake."
Menefee on Wednesday responded to Bettencourt's letter, arguing that Uplift Harris does not violate the gift clause in the Texas Constitution because existing state statutes enable counties to issue cash assistance that serves a "public purpose designed to benefit the entire county."
