Fewer than 3 million Texans bothered to vote this week, but that didn’t stop them from rewriting the state’s constitution — again — mostly in ways that make life easier for property owners, business interests, and the already comfortable.
In a turnout so low it barely qualifies as “consent of the governed,” voters approved 17 new amendments that collectively read like a love letter to the state’s tax-averse elite. If you’re wondering, that’s a total of 547 since the Constitution was adopted in 1876.
This year’s ballot was a buffet of property tax cuts. Homeowners get a bigger homestead exemption (Prop 13), seniors and disabled Texans get an extra $60,000 off (Prop 11), landlords and business owners get a discount (Prop 9), and even borderland property owners building “security projects” get a tax break (Prop 17).
All told, these new breaks (along with other recent efforts to reduce property taxes), will cost Texas around $50 billion next budget cycle — money that could’ve gone to, say, public schools or infrastructure, but instead will help fund slightly nicer second homes.
Jon Taylor, chair of the political science department at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told The Barbed Wire that the constitutional amendments passing wasn’t a complete surprise.
In the past 30 years, he noted, only 15 amendments have failed.
“Texas voters tend to default to a yes vote unless they encounter organized opposition or are convinced that the amendments are flawed or inadequate,” he said.
Others online were … angrier than Taylor’s measured tone.
As one commenter wrote on Instagram, “Wooo we gave tax cuts to the rich and made life shit for the poor! Go us!”
“Boomers can’t seem to pull the ladder up behind them fast enough,” wrote another.
“Hard to believe Texans actually voted to protect the wealthy freeloading class from paying their fair share of taxes,” a user posted on Blue Sky.
“I expect some voters had NO idea what their vote was supporting,” wrote another.
In the end, a few measures did pass that actually invest in Texas’ long-term wellbeing. Just enough to say we care! Proposition 4 puts $1 billion a year toward fixing our water system before it crumbles (though there are apparently some arguments to be had about data centers expanding across arid West Texas), and Proposition 14 establishes a $3 billion Dementia Prevention and Research Institute.
So yes, Texas is doing something about brain health, which is a relief, since so many voters seem to have forgotten there are things worth funding beyond tax cuts.
Texans also took time to outlaw taxes that don’t exist. Proposition 2 bans a capital gains tax we don’t have. Proposition 8 bans inheritance taxes, which have never existed here. Proposition 6 prevents Texas from ever taxing stock trades or on people and companies that work in finance. And it’s about danged time somebody looked out for finance dudes!
And Proposition 5 exempts animal feed from taxes, meaning cows are now possibly getting more tax relief than renters.
It’s all part of the state’s grand economic strategy: Make sure rich people and livestock both stay extremely comfortable.
Proposition 3 toughens bail rules for violent and sexual offenses, requiring judges to deny bail if there’s clear evidence someone’s a danger or might flee. Proposition 12, meanwhile, expands the power of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to discipline shady judges, so at least one amendment might actually make the system more accountable.
Prop 15 enshrines “parents’ rights” into the state constitution, ensuring that every parent with a Facebook account now has constitutional backing to tell teachers how to do their jobs. Critics warn it could complicate child welfare cases, but supporters can now wave pocket constitutions during school board meetings, so who’s to say who won?
Prop 16 reaffirms that only U.S. citizens can vote, a law that already exists but now exists extra hard.
Meanwhile, Austin voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition Q, a plan to raise $100 million for homeless services and city projects. The “Save Austin Now” crowd celebrated at their victory party, reported KUT, denouncing City Hall’s “million-dollar logos” and “trips to Japan,” as if the council’s real crime was acting too cultured.
Even Mayor Kirk Watson got the message, admitting the council needs to rebuild trust with voters.
As Taylor told The Barbed Wire, the vote was a “decisive no across Austin’s political spectrum, with affordability driving the vote.”
So while Texas voters statewide opened the constitution like a Black Friday sale at the Tax Cuts Depot, Austin voters just slammed their wallets shut entirely.
But then again, there’s San Antonio’s North East Independent School District, one of the few bright spots in this sea of austerity. Voters there approved three of five bond propositions, unlocking most of the $495 million the district requested for basic maintenance, technology, and athletic renovations.
And Bexar County voters narrowly approved Proposition B, securing the Spurs’ long-term future in San Antonio with plans for a $1.4 billion downtown arena as part of the city’s massive “Project Marvel” redevelopment. The measure raises hotel and car rental taxes to fund $311 million in public financing, alongside $489 million from the city and $500 million from the Spurs. Supporters say the project will revitalize downtown and anchor the team’s next era, while critics argue public arena funding rarely delivers promised economic benefits, according to The New York Times.
The measure went to a vote after the city’s debate over the matter got so contentious it resulted in a death threat toward San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.
Meanwhile, there was also a (much-needed) glimmer of hope for Democrats in the Fort Worth area, which held a special election for the Texas Senate District 9 seat.
Democrat Taylor Rehmet got almost 48 percent of the vote, far ahead of his Republican opponent Leigh Wambsganss. The two are headed to a runoff, since no one got more than 50 percent.
That’s significant, Taylor said, because Trump carried the district by more than 17 points last year.
“The last Democrat to run for Texas Senate in (Senate District 9) got 40 percent against Kelly Hancock in 2022,” Taylor told The Barbed Wire. “This is an 8-point swing to the Democrats in a deeply Republican suburban part of Texas. My guess is that it’s setting off alarm bells among the Texas Republican leadership.”
Oh, and that turnout of fewer than 3 million Texans voting? That’s actually an improvement over 2023, and it’s the best turnout since 2005, Taylor said.
“Those are pretty good numbers for an off-year election,” he said.
Of course, outside of Texas, California voters approved their own new U.S. House maps last night as a response to our state’s own mid-decade redistricting.
“Definitely not a good night for Governor Abbott,” Taylor said.