Published: November 02, 2009 10:16 pm      

11 amendments proposed for state constitution election

Supporters of 11 propositions on the Texas ballot — including one to fund more top-tier research universities — made their final plea Monday for voter passage in what’s shaping up as a low-turnout election.

Proposition 4 would create a national research university fund out of $500 million in existing state money if Texans approve it today.

The proposed constitutional amendment, plus those limiting eminent domain powers, guaranteeing public access to beaches and helping to build more veterans hospitals, are getting the most attention.

Gov. Rick Perry said there are “a number of very important constitutional amendments that are on that election tomorrow, whether it’s eminent domain, whether it’s putting Texas on track to have more Tier One (research) institutions. Those are all very important issues.”

“So I hope the citizens of Texas will take advantage of their right to vote and go vote in an affirmative way for those constitutional amendments,” Perry said Monday.

Two weeks of early voting concluded Friday.

The Texas Secretary of State’s Office, in tracking voting totals for the 15 counties with the largest number of registered voters, reported the highest percentage of early voting in Harris County, where there’s a race for mayor and other municipal elections.

Overall, only about 2 percent of voters cast early ballots in the counties tracked, according to the latest figures available.

“A vote for Proposition 4 is a vote for attracting the best research minds in the world to Texas,” said Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, with other proposition supporters at the Capitol on Monday.

He said the amendment also would attract the best students to Texas.

Currently, Texas has three top-level research universities: the University of Texas at Austin; Texas A&M University and Rice University.

If voters approve the proposition, some $500 million from the dormant Higher Education Fund would be transferred into a new account and eventually generate about $25 million a year to help create new research universities, supporters say.

They say Texas lags behind other states like California and New York in top-tier universities.

“Proposition 4 is the biggie,” said Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas Republican who chairs the House Higher Education Committee. “From my biased point of view ... this is the most important issue.”

Limited opposition to the proposal has emerged, notably from the Young Conservatives of Texas, which said the proposition would expand the role of government where it isn’t needed.

Seven schools are considered eligible at this point to achieve top-tier status: Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The two major Republican candidates for governor, Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, along with the Texas Farm Bureau have stumped for Prop 11, which would ban governments from taking private property and giving it to a private developer to boost the tax base.

Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, an anti-toll road group, opposes that proposition because it says it leaves open loopholes and doesn’t address private property issues like diminished access to land that remains after an eminent domain seizure.



Proposed

amendments

Eleven proposed constitutional amendments go before Texas voters in today’s election. The proposals passed both chambers of the Legislature with a two-thirds vote and must win voter approval to be added to the state constitution. The propositions are:

• PROPOSITION 1: Authorizes financing methods for municipalities and counties to acquire buffer zones or open spaces next to military bases. The proposal could prevent encroachment next to the base and allow construction of roads, utilities and other infrastructure to promote the mission of a military base.

• PROPOSITION 2: Allows the Legislature to provide for ad valorem taxation of a residence homestead solely on the basis of the property’s value as a residence, not at the potentially higher commercial use value.

• PROPOSITION 3: Provides for uniform standards and procedures for the appraisal of property for taxation. Texas lacks uniform standards, and proponents say this amendment would ensure that property in diverse parts of the state are valued using the same generally accepted practices.

• PROPOSITION 4: Establishes a national research university fund to help emerging research universities achieve national prominence as major research universities. Those pushing the proposal say it will provide funding similar to what elevated Texas A&M University and the University of Texas to Tier One status, providing jobs and stature or the state. Others question whether now is the time to spend such money.

• PROPOSITION 5: Permits the Texas Legislature to allow a single board of equalization for two or more adjoining appraisal entities. That means area appraisal boards can be consolidated if they choose.

• PROPOSITION 6: Authorizes the Veterans’ Land Board to issue general obligation bonds in amounts equal to or less than amounts previously authorized. It would prevent the land board from continually having to seek legislative authorization.

• PROPOSITION 7: Allows an officer or enlisted member of the Texas State Guard or other state militia or military force to hold other civil offices. This would correct what some say is an oversight in the state constitution.

• PROPOSITION 8: Authorizes the state to contribute money, property and other resources to establish veterans hospital. It’s designed to speed up efforts to open a federal Veterans Administration hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, where residents currently must travel to San Antonio to receive some VA hospital services.

• PROPOSITION 9: Protects the right of the public to access and use the public beaches bordering the seaward shore of the Gulf of Mexico. This would block private developers from restricting beach access to the public, but some say it could infringe on private property rights.

• PROPOSITION 10: Limits elected members of the governing boards of emergency services districts to terms no longer than four years.

• PROPOSITION 11: Prohibits governments from taking private property for private economic development to increase a tax base. It also limits the Legislature’s power to grant eminent domain authority to a governmental entity.



Voting Details

Voting hours on election day for the proposed 11 amendments to the Texas Constitution are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the following polling locations in Walker County:

• Precincts 101-102 — Walker County Annex, 1301 Sam Houston Ave., Huntsville.

• Precinct 103 — Cook Spring Baptist Church, 1936-A, State Highway 75 North, Huntsville.

• Precinct 104 — Northside Baptist Church, 1207 FM 908, Huntsville.

• Precinct 201 — First Presbyterian Church, 1801 19th St., Huntsville.

• Precinct 203-204 — Walker County Fairgrounds, 3707 State Highway 30 West, Huntsville.

• Precinct 205 — Elkins Lake Conference Center, 634 Cherry Hills Drive, Huntsville.

• Precinct 206 — Region VI Education Service Center, 3332 Montgomery Road, Huntsville.

• Precinct 301 — Martin Luther King Center, 300 Avenue F, Huntsville.

• Precinct 302-303 — Calvary Baptist Church, 1135 U.S. Highway 190, Huntsville.

• Precinct 304-305 — Riverside Volunteer Fire Department, 2341 FM 980, Huntsville.

• Precinct 401 — University Heights Baptist Church, 2400 Sycamore Ave., Huntsville.

• Precinct 402-403 — Phelps First Methodist Church, Dorrell Road, Watson Lake Road, Phelps.

• Precinct 404 — New Waverly First Baptist Church, 460 Fisher, New Waverly.