Harris County has obtained a staggering 59,431 functions for Uplift Harris, creating intense competitors for fewer than 2,000 slots within the assured earnings pilot program. The applying deadline is about for midnight on February 2.
Regardless of State Senator Paul Bettencourt searching for an opinion from Texas Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton, difficult this system’s constitutionality, functions proceed to flood in.
Expressing his considerations, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a outstanding advocate for this system, emphasised the Lawyer Basic’s opinion as important however not legally binding.
“It’s an opinion by the Lawyer Basic. It doesn’t carry the burden of legislation. I’m ready to go all the best way to the Texas Supreme Courtroom to make the case and let the chips fall the place they could,” Ellis mentioned.
Uplift Harris goals to assist simply over 1,900 households in particular zip codes, residing 200% beneath the federal poverty line, by offering a assured earnings of $500 a month for 18 months. Harris County Public Well being states that this consists of households of 4 with a yearly earnings of $60,000. Barring authorized intervention, the preliminary funds are anticipated to be disbursed in March.
Commissioner Ellis didn’t mince phrases when addressing state Republican officers, accusing them of actively harming impoverished residents. He pledged to proceed efforts to handle inequities and oppression, directing a message to Senator Bettencourt, stating, “He ought to steer on a few of these points, or he should step apart.”
