On the ballot

Texas voters will cast ballots Tuesday on 10 proposed state constitutional amendments and elect local officials in some municipalities.

UTRGV political science Associate Professor Mark Kaswan said that if the amendments pass, they will then be written into the constitution and the state will follow guidelines as to what it can or cannot do.

“The Texas Constitution is a bit different from the federal Constitution,” Kaswan said. “The federal Constitution is very vague. It doesn’t have a lot of detail. The Texas Constitution, on the other hand, is incredibly detailed. It’s one of the longest constitutions in the United States, essentially the second-largest.”

The propositions on the ballot are as follows:

Proposition 1–“The constitutional amendment permitting a person to hold more than one office as a municipal judge at the same time.”

An explanation of the proposed amendment in the League of Women Voters of Texas Voters Guide (Vote411.org) states: “A municipal judge oversees pre-trial hearings, small claims proceedings, and misdemeanor cases in a city or town. Proposition 1 would allow municipal judges to hold more than one paid public office at the same time, meaning they could simultaneously preside over multiple municipalities, regardless of whether they were appointed or elected.”

Proposition 2–“The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $200 million to provide financial assistance for the development of certain projects in economically distressed areas.”

According to the LWV Voters Guide, “Proposition 2 would allow the Water Development Board to issue general obligation bonds for the Economically Distressed Areas Program (EDAP). The outstanding bonds could not exceed $200 million. The bonds would be used to develop water supply and sewer projects in economically depressed areas of the state.

“EDAP assists water infrastructure projects when the median income of a region is less than 75% of the state’s median income. The proposed amendment would give the Water Development Board the money to finance water and wastewater infrastructure in economically distressed areas.”

Proposition 3–“The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.”

“Proposition 3 would allow the Texas Legislature to give a temporary property tax exemption in a governor-declared disaster area,” according to the guide. “The exemption would be 15%, 30%, 60% or 100%, depending on the amount of property damage. The local government would choose whether or not to adopt the temporary exemption and would determine how long the exemption would last.”

Proposition 4–“The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual income tax, including a tax on an individual’s share of partnership and unincorporated association income.”

An argument in favor of the amendment listed in the guide states, “Texas has a low-tax, pro-growth approach to economic expansion, and that is dependent on having no personal income tax.”

Among the arguments against Prop 4 in the guide is, “One reason Texans pay high property and sales taxes may be because Texas has no income tax. If Proposition 4 passed, these taxes would likely continue to increase, so Proposition 4 would not necessarily decrease the size of state government.”

Kaswan said the proposed amendment does not make it harder for the state to establish an income tax.

“But what it does is take away this provision that directs the income tax to certain kinds of things, property tax reduction and education,” he said. “All it really does is it removes the restriction that currently exists in terms of what the income tax could be used for.”

Proposition 5–“The constitutional amendment dedicating the revenue received from the existing state sales and use taxes that are imposed on sporting goods to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission to protect Texas’ natural areas, water quality, and history by acquiring, managing, and improving state and local parks and historic sites while not increasing the rate of the state sales and use taxes.”

According to the LWV Voters Guide, “Proposition 5 would require the Legislature to allocate the money raised from state sales taxes on sporting goods (i.e., hunting, fishing, outdoor equipment) to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission. Revenue from such taxes would be used to improve and manage state and local parks and historic sites, and to acquire new sites.”

“Proposition 5 closes a loophole in the current law that prevents all the revenue raised by these sales taxes from being given to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission, thus allowing some of the money to be used to balance the state budget.”

Proposition 6–“The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to increase by $3 billion the maximum bond amount authorized for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.”

An explanation of the amendment in the guide states, “The proposed amendment would increase the maximum bond amount for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) from $3 billion to $6 billion. CPRIT provides grants and supports programs that advance cancer research. The organization, begun in 2007, is currently set up to receive $3 billion in funding until 2022.”

Proposition 7–“The constitutional amendment allowing increased distributions to the available school fund.”

According to the guide, “The School Land Board, an independent entity of the General Land Office, oversees the management, sale and leasing of more than 13 million acres of land for the Permanent School Fund. The State Board of Education can then make distributions from this fund to the Available School Fund. The revenue generated from the land is used to purchase real estate and make investments to help fund public education through the Available School Fund. This proposition would increase from $300 million to $600 million the amount the General Land Office could distribute to the Available School Fund each year.”

Proposition 8–“The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the flood infrastructure fund to assist in the financing of drainage, flood mitigation, and flood control projects.”

LWV’s Voters Guide states, “Proposition 8 would create the Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) as a special fund outside of general revenue. A one-time distribution from the Economic Stabilization Fund, also known as the ‘rainy day fund,’ would establish the FIF. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) would distribute FIF funds to local governments through loans or, in some cases, as grants. The money would be used to establish and maintain flood control structures and drainage infrastructure throughout the state, especially in economically distressed areas.”

“If passed, Proposition 8 would require cooperation among all impacted parties. A local government would receive money from the FIF only if it worked with other governments in the region and listened to stakeholder concerns in public meetings. The local government would also have to submit a technical analysis of the plan, comparing it to other possible projects in the region, and a proposal to repay the loan.”

Kaswan said it seems obvious that people in the Rio Grande Valley would be “very supportive” of the proposed amendment.

“It does mean that state taking on additional debt in order to pay for it, but it seems necessary,” he said. “The question is whether people in Odessa, Amarillo should be getting to vote on that one.”

Proposition 9–“The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation precious metal held in a precious metal depository located in this state.”

“Texas opened a precious metals depository in 2018, run by a private company but overseen by the state government,” the guide states. “The Constitution requires all real and tangible personal property to be taxed on its value unless exempted. These ad valorem (property) taxes are imposed at the time of purchase or exchange of precious metals. Proposition 9 would exempt from taxation precious metals held in a precious metal depository in the state.”

Kaswan said it is possible for a tax authority to place a property tax on the metal that is held in a depository.

“Currently, none of them do so,” he said. “It’s imaginable that a city or a school board that has a metal depository in its jurisdiction could place a tax on the value of the metal and this … amendment will prevent them from doing so.”

Proposition 10–“The constitutional amendment to allow the transfer of a law enforcement animal to a qualified caretaker in certain circumstances.”

According to the guide, “Proposition 10 would allow law enforcement animals to retire, and their former handlers or other qualified caretakers to adopt them with no fee. Law enforcement animals are currently considered as surplus property of the county, which means the county can only auction, donate, or destroy them. Proposition [10] would change the property laws to allow the animals to retire and be transferred to their original handler or another qualified caretaker with no adoption fee.”

Voters in Edinburg, Weslaco, La Joya, Edcouch and Alamo will also cast ballots for municipal posts. In Edinburg, Juan “Johnny” Garcia, Carlos Jasso, Marc Roque and Deanna “Coach” Dominguez are running for Place 3 councilmember; Place 4 councilmember David Torres is being challenged by David White; Incumbent municipal court judge Toribio “Terry” Palacios is facing opponent Alma Garza.