AUSTIN, Texas — The city of Austin is bringing back a "guaranteed income" program to give 100 families an extra financial boost every month.
But a similar program in Harris County has faced opposition from the state's top lawyer.
Austin enacted the program in 2022 to help 135 families, and staff said it was a success, finding that people actually used the money they got for necessities.
Harris County implemented a similar program, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton put a stop to it in June.
"These are discretionary funds that the powers that be in the local communities have an opportunity to disperse those funds as they see fit to, to the general benefit and welfare of the community," Charlie Baird, an attorney & former Travis County district court judge, said.
"Yes, this is going to help me tremendously with housing, groceries, bills," Austinite Robert Holley said of the program.
Those are some of the needs income guaranteed program members say they're getting help with.
On Thursday, the Austin City Council approved setting aside $1.3 million to disperse to lower income Austinites.
Baird said the attorney general doesn't have a strong case against Harris County.
Paxton argues that taxpayer money cannot be "redistributed with no accountability or reasonable expectation of a general benefit."
"There's a general benefit if you have individuals in the community who are at the poverty level, who are now able to afford shelter and food and medicine and childcare," Baird said.
Those who study the program in Austin say there's a true benefit.
"We heard from one woman who was actually had been homeless until she received her $1,000 a month, and she was using the thousand dollars a month to save up," Mary Bogle, a researcher with the Urban Institute, said.
The city hired researchers with the Urban Institute to audit how the previous program went. Bogle said not putting limitations on the spending was successful.
"That's one of the most fascinating things is how people choose to spend the money. They're so smart about it. They're way smarter than our siloed systems that would say, 'Here's money, and you must spend it on just food,'" Bogle said.
Baird said if any lawsuits come Austin's way, they likely won't stick.
"I would expect a judge in Austin to rule in favor of Austin in Travis County because they have precedent. They have done this last year. It was spent for the benefit of the general good of the community," Baird said.
While the city of Austin isn't being sued over its program, a judge in Houston sided with Harris County in April, denying the attorney general's request to block that county's program.
In a statement, the CEO of UpTogether, which works with Austin on its guaranteed income program, wrote the following about the Harris county ruling:
"Today was a victory, but the fight is not over. We will continue to demonstrate investing in families is an approach that works."