TEXAS — In the latest in a barrage of lawsuits against the Biden administration, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit over a tax stipulation in the American Rescue Plan Act.

The act, designed to assist in recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant economic crisis, was signed into law in March.

While a statement concerning the lawsuit acknowledges the act “generally assists Texans recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic,” at issue is a provision that requires the state not use funds received via the act to “directly or indirectly offset tax revenue deduction caused by changes in tax policy.”

According to Paxton, what that means is the act’s Tax Mandate prohibits Texas from eliminating taxes, reducing tax rates or increasing tax credits. Paxton further says it prohibits the state from adopting tax enforcement policies that would lead to reduced revenues.

Paxton essentially sees the mandate as an attack on states including Texas that operate on a low-tax model.

“This is yet another attempt by the federal government to unlawfully exert control over how sovereign states operate,” Paxton wrote in a news release. “While hiding behind a deceptively friendly name, the Act effectively removes Texas’s ability to lower taxes while granting Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen power to take back federal aid funds if they disagree with state tax policies.”

This marks the ninth lawsuit Paxton has filed against Biden since the president took office.