A guaranteed income pilot program in Harris County (Houston), Texas was shut down before the first payment could be processed. The Supreme Court of Texas ruled it must stop while the question of whether or not it is unconstitutional is considered. 

Last year the Harris County Commissioners Court passed Uplift Harris. The vote was 4-1. It is a guaranteed income pilot program that distributes $500 per month for 18 months to participating households. There are currently 1,924 applicants enrolled in the program. Uplift Harris began on January 12.

The Supreme Court of Texas put an administrative stay on the program in a ruling issued on Tuesday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton disputes the program. Payments will not be allowed to be processed while the state Supreme Court considers its constitutionality. 

The ruling came just days after County Judge Ursula Hall struck down Paxton's arguments against Uplift Harris. Paxton argued that the program was unconstitutional.

"If the program does include a public benefit, it does not violate the constitution," the Houston Landing reported Hall as saying.

 Paxton's attorneys said that taxpayer money must be used in the public interest for a general benefit. Paxton filed a lawsuit asking for an immediate ruling. The Court granted his request.

"Without regard to the merits, the court grants an administrative stay as follows: Real parties in interest and their agents are prohibited from making payments under the Uplift Harris program pending further order of this Court," the ruling read.

Democrats and their socialist comrades call the decision "shameful" while Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo who runs Harris County with a heavy dose of socialism says her heart is broken. Hidalgo is a Democrat. The Harris County Judge's role is as a county CEO, not a judicial position.

"Today’s shameful decision means thousands of Texas residents facing financial hardship will be denied an opportunity for financial stability and upward mobility for the unforeseeable future," UpTogether CEO Jesús Gerena said. "By blocking Uplift Harris, the state Supreme Court has tossed aside any notion of judicial restraint and joined Ken Paxton’s ongoing circus show, in which he continues to use people’s day-to-day survival as a political football."

Gerena added that what Paxton was doing "is cruel, it is deceitful, and it is opportunistic."

"This is the state once again trying to bully Harris County, and these families are getting caught in the middle," Hidalgo said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "The Attorney General has known for a year that we had this program coming, so we really were surprised to see them try to block it once we had already selected and notified the recipients. I’ve already heard stories of people who were expecting these funds and I hate having to give them contradictory information every day, but I can say that we are going to keep fighting."

Hidalgo admitted in February that the taxpayer money will go to illegal aliens, aka "migrants." 

One county commissioner said they were ''racing" to get a payment out before the program was halted. That payment was not processed. 

We were racing to get at least one payment out the door, but unfortunately, we were not able to process them before the Supreme Court order came down. We will continue to fight to get these 1900 families the support they need and deserve.

— Rodney Ellis (@RodneyEllis) April 23, 2024

Attorney General Paxton is pleased with the delay. He isn't giving up the fight.

"I’m pleased the Supreme Court of Texas has blocked Harris County from disbursing these unlawful payments," Paxton said. "I look forward to continuing to defend our Constitution and preventing this egregious misuse of taxpayer money."

I’m pleased the Supreme Court of Texas has blocked Harris County from disbursing these unlawful payments. I look forward to continuing to defend our Constitution and preventing this egregious misuse of taxpayer money. https://t.co/6TchaOH1ML

— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) April 23, 2024

The reason Paxton's office asked for the temporary injunction is because a trial court and a court of appeals denied Texas's request for an injunction. The Supreme Court of Texas ordered Harris County to respond to the Office of Attorney General's motion by April 29. 

Socialists-at-heart, like Lina Hidalgo, are happy to redistribute Texas taxpayers' funds to illegal aliens. Eventually, other people's money runs out. In this case, taxpayer money would specifically go to a group of people, not benefit all county residents. 

Earlier this month, in Harris County's 165th Civil Court, Judge Ursula Hall struck down Paxton's arguments that the program is unconstitutional. She used some odd logic in doing so - not that odd logic is unusual for Democrat judges in Harris County. In 2016, Harris County judicial elections were swept by Democrats, particularly black Democrat women judges, and it hasn't worked out very well for the county, in my opinion. 

"What if the community member got great joy out of traveling, wouldn’t that be a benefit?" Hall replied. "Or what if they won big in Vegas, brought that money back to Harris County and spent it? Wouldn’t it benefit the county then?"

I'm sorry. What? Are Harris County taxpayers expected to pay for travel because another person likes to travel? Or pay for trips to Las Vegas? Judges like this are just lost. Common sense is gone. Not to put too fine of a point on it but when identity boxes are checked instead of merit in elections, chaos ensues.