Texas Constitutional Amendment Election Recommendations

Looks like another off-year Texas Constitutional Amendments election is sneaking up on us, and early voting started yesterday. Here’s my reminder to find your voter registration card, and my one-eyed-man-in-the-land-of-the-blind recommendations:

  1. Proposition 1: “The constitutional amendment permitting a person to hold more than one office as a municipal judge at the same time.” Oppose. I see no reason to allow double-dipping by elected officials.
  2. 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.” Oppose. Sounds like a potential graft pit for a function that should be handled at the local, not state, level.
  3. 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.” Support. Reducing taxes? Good. Helping people in need keep more of their own money? Also good.
  4. 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.” Strong Support. This one is the reason to get to the polls. It will drive a stake through the heart of Democratic plans to impose a state income tax on Texas.
  5. Proposition 5: “The constitutional amendment dedicating the revenue received from the existing state 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 historical sites while not increasing the rate of the sales and use taxes.” Support, though not particularly strongly, as many sporting goods have nothing to do with parks and wildlife.
  6. 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.” Oppose. This earmark has the earmarks of a possible boondoggle/graft pit, and it’s not like there aren’t a lot of other agencies and organizations at the private and federal level funding cancer research.
  7. Proposition 7: “The constitutional amendment allowing increased distributions to the available school fund.” Support, if tepidly. Sayeth Empower Texans: “Securing additional revenue from the state’s oil and gas reserves was one of the alternatives adopted in lieu of an increased sales tax.” Fair enough, but I always hesitate to let bureaucrats spend more money.
  8. 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.” Oppose. This is a proper function of government, but one more properly handled at the city or county level. (Well, anywhere Sylvester Turner isn’t mayor…)
  9. 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.” Support. Not wild about any fixed asset taxation except land. And I’m not wild about that either, but at least I can see theoretical justification for in it being a finite resource and among the lesser of taxing evils…
  10. Proposition 10: “The constitutional amendment to allow the transfer of a law enforcement animal to a qualified caretaker in certain circumstances.” Support. Let’s law enforcement animals be transferred to their handlers when they retire, something previously prohibited by our long, weird state constitution. BattleSwarm Blog reiterates our longstanding “pro-dog” policy leanings.

    11. Election Day is November 5. If you’re not voting early, remember, remember the fifth of November…

    More background info from the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Brad Johnson at The Texan.

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    This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019 at 6:19 AM and is filed under Elections, Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Texas Constitutional Amendment Election Recommendations”

  1. Dwight Brown says:
    October 22, 2019 at 12:09 PM

    “Let’s law enforcement animals be transferred to their handlers when they retire, something previously prohibited by our long, weird state constitution.”

    While I strongly support Battleswarm’s pro-dog policy, I really need a better explanation of this amendment. All I see is repeated assertions that transfers to handlers are “illegal” or “difficult”.

    But from what RoadRich and I hear when we’re down at the cop shop for the APD Citizen’s Police Academy classes, APD does this regularly and frequently with their dogs and their handlers. I’ve never heard any of the handlers say that this has been an issue for the department, and I’m pretty sure RoadRich can say the same.

    How does APD do this without a constitutional amendment? And why can’t other departments do whatever APD does?

  2. Lawrence Person says:
    October 22, 2019 at 12:28 PM

    See the Empower Texans and TPPF links for details.

    APD may ignore it because it’s a silly rule no one wants to enforce when it comes to dogs.

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