Judge Amy Clark Meachum granted a temporary injunction blocking the emergency rule, that altered long-standing HUB rules and expanded eligibility to certain service-disabled veterans while excluding traditional minority- and women-owned businesses.
A legal battle is unfolding in Texas over the future of the state’s Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Program, a long-standing initiative designed to expand contracting opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. In late 2025, acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock suspended the program and later restructured it into a veteran-only model, removing thousands of previously certified businesses. In response, a coalition of affected business owners and a trade association filed a lawsuit in March 2026, arguing that the Comptroller exceeded his authority by unilaterally altering a program established by the Texas Legislature and failing to follow required rulemaking procedures.
In the lawsuit brought by six plaintiffs against Hancock, Judge Amy Clark Meachum ruled Monday in favor of granting a temporary injunction against the comptroller’s emergency regulation. The challenged rule had altered the longstanding HUB framework and expanded eligibility to certain service-disabled veterans while excluding traditional participants. The court’s ruling restores the HUB program rules to their status prior to Hancock’s emergency order, at least as applied to the six plaintiffs in the case.
In her reasoning, Judge Meachum emphasized that no Texas court has invalidated the HUB program in its more than three decades of existence and underscored that executive agencies do not have the authority to reinterpret or override laws enacted by the Legislature. Plaintiffs’ co-counsel David stated that the decision reinforces the principle that executive officials cannot rewrite statutes, adding that previously eligible businesses may reapply and that any obstruction could raise further constitutional concerns. The case is ongoing, with a full trial on the merits scheduled for November 9.
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