Last Tuesday, Texans voted on 14 constitutional amendments, with all but one receiving voter approval. The most popular amongst them were propositions 9 and 4.
Proposition 9, approved by 84% of voters, will provide retired teachers with a cost-of-living raise to their monthly pension checks, and Proposition 4, approved by 83%, allows Texas to follow through on implementing the historic property tax cuts that were approved by the Legislature in July. As a result, $18 billion will be allocated to reduce property taxes for schools, businesses and homeowners.
Other tax-related propositions include 2, 3 and 10. Proposition 2, approved by 65% of voters, allows cities and counties to reduce property taxes on approved owned or rented childcare facilities. Proposition 3 passed by 68% and prohibits the imposition of a tax based upon a person’s individual wealth or net worth. Barely achieving approval, Proposition 10 passed by only 55% and is centered around exempting biomedical and medical manufacturers from paying property taxes for equipment used during the manufacturing process.
Along with Proposition 10, Proposition 12 was also approved by a thin margin. Being passed with 53% approval, Proposition 12 abolished the office of the county treasurer in Galveston County.
A whole slew of funds were also created by the approved amendments. Proposition 5, approved by 64% of voters, authorizes the creation of the Texas University Fund, whose goal is to financially aid emerging research universities across the state to achieve national recognition and bolster the state economy. Proposition 6, approved by 78%, creates a water fund that will be administered by the Texas Water Development Board to provide financial support for various projects, including repairing Texas’ water pipes and further optimizing water transportation.
65% of voters approved Proposition 7, which implements an energy fund for the creation and modernization of electric generating facilities. Proposition 8, approved by 69%, creates a broadband infrastructure fund with the intent of expanding high-speed internet access in Texas to assist the 7 million people who currently lack access.
Proposition 14, approved by 76% of voters, allocates $1 billion to the creation of the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund, which aims to create new state parks and improve upon pre-existing parks. Similarly, Proposition 11 allows the conservation reclamation districts of El Paso County to issue bonds to fund recreational facility development. Proposition 11 passed by 63%.
Relatively unrelated to the other propositions, Proposition 1, approved by 79%, protects landowners’ rights to produce timber and manage wildlife on their land. Still, it also allows for government regulation when sufficient evidence is provided that supports the idea that the farming practice poses a danger to public safety.
Receiving only 37% approval, Proposition 13 was the only proposition that did not pass and was centered around raising the minimum and mandatory retirement age for state judges from 70 to 75 and 75 to 79.
To view more info on the Nov. 7 general election and track upcoming election dates in Texas, visit https://www.sos.state.tx.us/index.shtml.
