Programs where governments give cash to low-income people with no strings attached may be permitted to continue in Texas after lawmakers failed to pass bills barring these programs.
Republican lawmakers filed four bills this legislative session to stop guaranteed income programs, arguing that public money should not be given to private individuals without a clear purpose.
But while at least one bill appeared to have the momentum needed to become law, all eventually failed.
Both state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Republican from Houston and state Rep. Ellen Troxclair, a Republican from the Austin area, authored bills prohibiting direct or indirect cash payments from local governments to individuals.
Senate Bill 2010, filed by Bettencourt, showed the most promise of becoming law this session. Lawmakers passed it out of the Senate. It went to the House. But once there it died.
Bettencourt did not respond to a request for comment, while Troxclair's office declined an interview.
Guaranteed income programs have become increasingly popular in the U.S. New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans all have or had guaranteed income programs. Supporters of guaranteed income programs have painted them as necessary safety nets, especially as the cost of food and housing has risen across the country.
"It is the fine line between living in survival mode, just barely making it, and being able to thrive and take care of yourself," said Ashleigh Hamilton, who was part of a guaranteed income program in Texas during the pandemic and testified against these bills during the legislative sessions
Austin has had a guaranteed income program since 2022. Last year, the city committed to giving 97 people $1,000 a month for a year. Participants received their last payment in May.
But as much as these programs have been celebrated, they have equally been criticized. GOP-led states, including Iowa, Arkansas and Idaho, have outlawed them.
Even before the legislative session began it was clear guaranteed income would be a target of Texas lawmakers. In Jan. 2024, Bettencourt asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate whether guaranteed income programs violate the state constitution.
Months later, Paxton made his opinion clear: He sued Harris County to halt its guaranteed income program. The Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling freezing the program.
"There is no such thing as free money — especially in Texas," Paxton wrote in the lawsuit. He pointed to a clause in the state's constitution prohibiting public funds from being given to private individuals with no clear aim.
Lawmakers made similar arguments this session. They also questioned in hearings whether government cash programs that don't require participants to work encouraged people to work less.
Research on the impacts of guaranteed income on employment are mixed. One study found that people who got $1,000 a month worked, on average, 1.3 fewer hours a week than people who did not receive this cash. Other researchers have found no impact on work hours.
Lawmakers did not spend much time debating how people who participate in guaranteed income programs spend that money, which has historically been a critique of these programs. In one study of Austin's guaranteed income program, people who received the money said they spent most of it on housing, either in the form of rent or mortgage payments.
It's unclear if Austin will continue to fund its guaranteed income program. Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes, who represents parts of Southeast Austin and has been an advocate of guaranteed income in the past, said Monday she would push to continue it. The city typically finalizes its budget in August.
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