AUSTIN — Texans soon will vote on 14 proposed changes to the state Constitution, including several that GOP elected leaders have described as shrewd down payments on improved infrastructure, recreation and higher education.
Others would buttress lawmakers’ plan for wheeling out $17.6 billion in school property tax cuts and ratify the key component of the Legislature’s $5 billion plan this year to assist retired educators.
Early voting begins Oct. 23 and ends Nov. 3. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is Oct. 27. On Election Day, Nov. 7, polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
No ad campaigns have been mounted against any of the constitutional amendments.
However, three staunchly conservative groups have criticized several of the proposed special funds as wasteful and unnecessary.
From the left, Texas Progressive Caucus founder Clayton Tucker’s Texas Bluebonnet PAC has created an ad criticizing Proposition 3, which would ban a state “wealth tax,” as an unneeded “tax break for billionaires.”
In late May, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick defended the Legislature’s plan for seeking voter approval of special funds to encourage acquisition of more land for state parks, installation of high-speed broadband, construction of more natural gas-fired electric generators, fixes to leaking drinking-water systems and a boost to rising Tier 1 research universities.
“We have taken advantage of our unprecedented budget surplus to make strategic, one-time and ongoing investments to address many issues that we previously could not afford to address,” Patrick said in a written statement about final passage of a two-year state budget.
One of the 14 proposed constitutional amendments would provide cost of living increases for retired teachers and other retired school district employees, at a cost of $3.4 billion.
The money complements $1.6 billion added to the budget to provide a “13th check” for the pensioners, many of whom struggle to make ends meet.
Another amendment would approve $12.3 billion of property tax relief, approved in the year’s second special session in August. It would come on top of $5.3 billion appropriated for tax cuts in the budget.
The only visible campaigns in support of any of the proposed constitutional amendments have included pushes by groups supporting the three on infrastructure.
The Dallas-based think tank Texas 2036, an industry and manufacturing-oriented alliance called the Texas Infrastructure Coalition and the Texas Water Foundation are supporting Proposition 6, the attempt to secure new water supplies and repair existing water infrastructure.
The infrastructure coalition, whose members include the Texas Oil and Gas Association and Dallas-based pipeline firm Energy Transfer, also is backing Proposition 7. It’s designed to stabilize the electric grid, mostly with more “dispatchable” power that doesn’t vary with weather. Sponsors said $10 billion of loans would spur $18 billion of investment. Lawmakers have provided at least $5 billion as a start.
The coalition and Texas 2036 also are urging passage of Proposition 8 (broadband), along with an AT&T-led campaign known as Broadband Now.
Former state Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, the oil and gas group’s president, said all three infrastructure proposals will help Texas continue to attract new jobs.
“Investing for our infrastructure future within existing resources in a manner that does not raise taxes is the right approach,” he said in a written statement.
In plugging Proposition 14 (state parks), Texas 2036 is joined by the Texas Coalition for State Parks, which has enlisted Grammy-winning country music star Kacey Musgraves to narrate a 30-second spot.
In it, she calls the proposed parkland acquisition fund, which under the new state budget would get $1 billion, “our chance for a new golden era for state parks creation.”
At a Dallas press conference last week, parks fund supporter Doug Deason called $1 billion a “drop in the bucket” and said it isn’t going to buy “a whole lot of land” but is a start.
“This is simply a conversion of assets. As conservatives, you can look at it as an investment in cash into land and no one can argue that Texas land is a great investment,” said Deason, who lobbied for the fund with environmentalist Luke Metzger.
A one-sentence summary of each of the 14 proposed amendments:
Proposition 1: Should the right to engage in farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management be protected?
Proposition 2: Should cities and counties be allowed to give child-care businesses property tax breaks?
Proposition 3: Should the Legislature be prohibited from passing a law that imposes an individual wealth or net worth tax?
Proposition 4: Should the homestead exemption from school property taxes be increased to $100,000, from $40,000?
Proposition 5: Should a $3 billion fund be created to allow state schools that are not part of the 19th-century Permanent University Fund, such as the University of North Texas system, to potentially become eligible for monies to help them boost their research prowess?
Proposition 6: Should a Texas Water Fund be created, with $1 billion from a supplemental appropriation bill passed in May, to assist in financing water projects, especially updated pipes?
Proposition 7: Should the state establish an energy fund to finance new electric generation through grants and loans?
Proposition 8: Should the state create a broadband infrastructure fund to expand high-speed internet access?
Proposition 9: Should the state provide a cost-of-living adjustment to retired teachers and other school district retirees?
Proposition 10: Should biomedical firms receive property tax breaks on the value of equipment and inventory to strengthen our medical supply chain?
Proposition 11: Should conservation and reclamation districts in El Paso County have the power to issue bonds to fund parks and recreational facilities?
Proposition 12: Should the office of county treasurer in Galveston County be abolished?
Proposition 13: Should the mandatory retirement age of state justices and judges be increased to 79 years old, from 75?
Proposition 14: Should the state create a centennial parks conservation fund to buy new land for state parks?
You can find out if you are registered, where your polling place is and other details for casting a ballot at VoteTexas.gov, the Texas Secretary of State’s online clearinghouse of voting information.
Explanatory statements for the constitutional amendments in English and Spanish, along with sample ballots, are available on Secretary of State Jane Nelson’s office’s website.
The Texas Legislative Council, an arm of the Legislature, offers more detailed information for each amendment in its Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments.
Staff writer Lana Ferguson in Dallas contributed to this report.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
