[nndl] Wow! Seems I misunderstood about what to vote on Nov 3rd!

Every other November – the ones in odd-numbered
years, when there are a lot fewer good-looking politicians calling each
other names – Texas voters go to the polls to amend the constitution.

For those of you who are new to the process: yes,
we Texans have our own constitution.  And no, that
doesn’t mean we’ve seceded from the United States.

Political science 101: The constitutional
amendments are generally considered to be important.  One way you can
tell that the founders thought they were important is they take
precedence over every other law the legislature passes.  Both the
Senate and the House of Representatives have to approve them by a
two-thirds margin.  Then, voters have to ratify them.

Even so, some of the amendments are relatively
straight-forward and noncontroversial proposals that fix or clarify
other parts of the constitution.  (Our constitution is really, really long – the copy I've
been using is almost 200 pages – and it covers numerous facets of state
government; it’s so not like the U.S. Constitution, with its puny
seven articles and 27 amendments.)

But other amendments are critically important to
Texas, its people, and its future.

On November 3, there will be a few in both categories.

The Big Ones

A half-dozen propositions – touching
on top-flight universities, property tax appraisals, and private
property rights – really stand out this time.

Proposition 4 would dedicate more
than $400 million we already have to turn existing campuses into
“tier-one” public research universities – academic and economic
powerhouses on par with the University of Texas at Austin and Texas
A&M University.

The money would help these existing institutions
pay for groundbreaking research, state-of-the-art facilities, and
internationally renowned faculty, allowing them to attract even
brighter students and spin off technologies that will create new
companies and industries.

I’ll have more to say about this one next week. 
But there’s no secret that increasing the number of top-tier
universities has been among my biggest priorities since I took
office nearly three years ago.  I’m very excited that Texas will have
the chance to take such a big step toward this critical goal next month.

Three other very significant initiatives are
Propositions 2, 3, and 5.  All of these would protect property
taxpayers by setting out new standards on appraisals.

Proposition 2 requires that a
Texan’s homestead property – the home where they live, in other words –
can be appraised only as a home.  This stops appraisal districts from
appraising a homeowner’s property based on the value that it’d have as,
say, a shopping mall or office building.

Proposition 3 strengthens state
oversight of a property appraisal board’s practices and procedures. 
Hopefully, this will reduce the wide variations in the way appraisal
districts set property tax values.

And Proposition 5 allows
adjoining appraisal districts or similar entities to consolidate their
review board functions so they can be more efficient.

Finally, Proposition 11 builds
on a current law limiting the ability of the state, or any other
jurisdiction, to condemn and acquire property for economic development
purposes through the use of eminent domain.  It also would make clear
that while some jurisdictions could still condemn land for “public
use,” that term wouldn’t apply to an economic development project.  And
it would require a two-thirds vote of the state House and Senate before
the legislature could grant the power of eminent domain to a Texas
entity.

The ones that are . . . less big

That leaves another half-dozen amendments on your
ballot November 3.  These measures probably don’t touch the lives of as
many Texans as the ones I outlined above.  But they’re still important
changes for the people who need them, and they can’t happen without
amending the constitution.

Proposition 1 would allow the
legislature to let cities and counties issue debt in order to acquire
buffer areas, infrastructure right-of-way, and open space next to
military installations.

Proposition 6 would let the
Veterans’ Land Board issue more debt than it does now to help Texas
veterans acquire land or get a mortgage loan.

Proposition 7 would clarify that
members of the Texas State Guard (or similar groups) could hold civil
offices such as justice of the peace or county commissioner.

Proposition 8 would clarify that
the state can contribute money, property or other resources for a
veteran’s hospital.  Most immediately, this would allow the state to
help build a veterans hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, as required by
a law that took effect earlier this year.

Proposition 9 would strengthen
the state’s open beaches law by putting it in the constitution and
clarifying that the public has the unrestricted right to use, and get
to and from, public beaches.  It also says beaches would continue to
belong to the public, even if storms or erosion move the beach under
houses or other buildings.

And Proposition 10 would
lengthen the term of emergency services district board members from two
to four years.

In my view, all of these are good, reasonable
amendments.  I voted for them in the Senate, and I encourage you to learn about them and vote for them
on November 3.