Why legislate the messy way when you can just etch your politics into the bedrock of the state forever? This is why Texans love a good constitutional amendment, and on Nov. 4, we get to vote on 17 of them.
Buckle up, it’ll be a veritable buffet of tax breaks and tough-on-crime chest thumping.
Let’s start with the shiny tax cuts. Do you own stocks? A family trust? Maybe a spare ranch house in Aspen? Congratulations: Proposition 2 (capital gains ban) and Proposition 8 (inheritance tax ban) are here to make sure Texas never, ever taxes that wealth (because we wouldn’t want child healthcare or public schools ever getting their grubby mitts on it).
Yes, even though the state doesn’t tax it now, lawmakers want to double-pinky-swear that they’ll never try it in the future.
Jon Taylor, chair of the political science department at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told The Barbed Wire that Prop 2 is “a reward to wealthy GOP donors,” and Prop 8 is “another gift to GOP donors and the wealthy by banning the possibility of a wealth tax.” In other words, solutions in search of a problem — unless your “problem” is that Texas might someday consider taxing your third vacation home.
The message is clear: Die rich, stay rich, and pass it all down untaxed. It’s trickle-down economics, except the only thing that trickles is champagne at the family estate after the will is read.
Meanwhile, Proposition 3 on bail reform offers the flip side of that generosity. If you’re accused of certain felonies, judges would be required to keep you locked up with no bail at all. Yes, you’re still legally innocent, but good luck fighting your case from an overcrowded cell. Taylor notes that this amendment “essentially enshrines — and expands — pre-trial detention without conviction” and even echoes Texas’ Jim Crow era. It also “ties the hands of judges by reducing judicial discretion.”
Currently, only defendants accused of capital murder can be denied bail. This would extend that to other crimes, including aggravated assault and indecency with a child. The state would have to demonstrate that bail is not enough to prevent the defendant from being a flight or public safety risk, according to the Texas Tribune.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, frames it more bluntly to The Barbed Wire: “This is an effort to redirect the legal process of the bail system which has been partially settled through prior litigation but, more importantly, a way to show voters that Republicans are tough on crime.” In other words, the ballot box is doing double duty: rewriting due process and serving as a campaign ad.
The rest of the ballot reads like a legislative yard sale. There are the feel-good props: money for water projects (Prop 4, which Taylor calls “critical to Texas’ future”), dementia research (Prop 14), and technical colleges (Prop 1, which Taylor calls a “no-brainer” that still managed to irk some fiscal hawks).
A couple of “family values” throw-ins, like enshrining “parental rights” in the Constitution and reminding us that, yes, you really do have to be a U.S. citizen to vote (Props 15 and 16 — or as Taylor put it, a “Trojan horse” for the culture war and a “useless, symbolic” nod to xenophobia).
Then there are the hyper-specific carve-outs: tax breaks if your house burns down, if you’re an un-remarried veteran’s spouse, or if you happen to sell cattle feed (Props 5, 7, 10).
Businesses, of course, get their share — because it wouldn’t be a Texas ballot without some corporate welfare. Props 6, 9, 11, 13, and 17 all chip away at local tax bases by exempting various inventories, securities trades, or property tied up in Gov. Greg Abbott’s border wall theater. As Taylor noted, Prop 6 in particular is “a nice payoff to GOP donors,” while Prop 12 (restructuring judicial oversight) risks becoming a weapon against judges who aren’t conservative enough for Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“Many of these amendments are an easy way to get Texans to commit to core Republican principles like low or no taxes,” said Rottinghaus. “More than most years, we’re seeing this amendment cycle as messaging.”
So here’s the ballot in plain English: If you’re wealthy, the state promises to protect your fortune forever. If you’re poor and unlucky enough to be accused of a crime, the state promises to protect the public from you (whether or not you’ve been convicted). For everyone else, there’s a smattering of small perks, patriotic gestures, and pothole-filling promises designed to sweeten the deal.
Texans will soon decide whether we want a Constitution that doubles as a billionaire’s prenup and a jailer’s dream. But let’s be real. We’ll probably pass most of these anyway. After all, this is Texas, where protecting inherited wealth is sacred, but protecting your right to bail is negotiable.
