Abbott sets special election for eight proposed constitutional amendments

(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott set Tuesday, Nov. 2, as the date for a special election when Texans will vote on eight constitutional amendments.

If three of the amendments were to pass, they would put the number of amendments to the state constitution past 500 since it was adopted in 1876, making it the third-most amended constitution in the U.S.

According to the state Constitution, constitutional amendments must first be filed as joint resolutions in the Texas Legislature, proposed in regular or special legislative sessions. A two-thirds majority must pass them in order for them to be filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s office, who then adds them to a ballot. Texas voters must approve the measures by a simple majority in a general election on a date established by the governor.

Not all propositions should be part of the Texas Constitution, critics argue. For example, in 2019, voters approved a constitutional amendment that would commit $3 billion to fund the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas for another 10 years.

“While well-intentioned, CPRIT has not been a good steward of taxpayer dollars and cancer research is not a core function of government,” Texans For Fiscal Responsibility pointed out.

Similarly, critics argue, many of the propositions before voters this year are not a state constitutional matter and instead should have been proposed as bills by legislators and been voted on through the legislative process.

Proposition 1 would authorize charitable foundations of organizations sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association or the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association to conduct charitable raffles at rodeo venues.

Proposition 2 would authorize counties to finance the development or redevelopment of transportation or infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas in the county, which critics have pointed out is another way to increase property taxes.

Proposition 3 would prohibit state or political subdivisions from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations.

Proposition 4 would change the eligibility requirements for a justice of the supreme court, a judge of the court of criminal appeals, a justice of a court of appeals, and a district judge.

Proposition 5 would give additional powers to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct with respect to candidates for judicial office.

Proposition 6 would establish a right for residents of certain facilities to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation.

Proposition 7 would allow the surviving spouse of a person who is disabled to receive a limitation on the school district ad valorem taxes on the spouse’s residence homestead if the spouse is 55 years of age or older at the time of the person’s death.

Proposition 8 would authorize the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.

In 2019, Texans passed 9 out of 10 ballot initiatives, including a constitutional amendment prohibiting a state income tax.

Texas has been governed by seven constitutions since 1824. Its 1876 constitution is the third-most amended state constitution in the U.S., behind California and Alabama.

By comparison, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was ratified in 1788.

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