In Texas, constitutional amendment elections take place in odd-numbered years. In order to appear on the ballot, constitutional amendments must be approved by at least two-thirds majority in the Texas House and the Texas Senate. Proposed amendments do not need the Governor’s signature to appear on the ballot.
To become part of the Texas Constitution, constitutional amendments must be approved by at least 50% of voters in the election. In 2021, there are 8 proposed constitutional amendments, listed below.
The Texas Constitution has been amended 507 times since its adoption in 1876. It is one of the longest state constitutions in the country. In November 2019 voters adopted nine of the ten proposed constitutional amendments.
Resources
- “Explanatory Statements for the November 2, 2021 Constitutional Amendment Election,” Texas Secretary of State
- Texas League of Women Voters, Constitutional Amendment Election
- “Texans will decide on eight constitutional amendments this election. Here’s what they mean,” KERA News
- “Texans will decide eight proposed amendments to the state Constitution on Nov 2. Here’s what you need to know,” Texas Tribune (Oct 15, 2021)
- Ballotopedia, Texas 2021 ballot measures
Proposed Amendments
Proposition 1
| Proposition 1 | The constitutional amendment authorizing the professional sports team 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. Enmienda constitutional que autoriza a las fundaciones benéficas de equipos deportivos profesionales de organizaciones sancionadas por la Asociación Profesional de Vaqueros de Rodeo o la Asociación Profesional de Rodeo Fememino a realizar rifas benéficas en eventos de rodeo. |
| If I vote for | The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Women's Professional Rodeo Association will be added to the list of professional sports organizations whose charitable foundations are allowed to have raffles for fundraising. Organizations including teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL are already allowed to have charitable raffles. |
| If i vote against | The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Women's Professional Rodeo Association will not be allowed to have charitable raffles. |
| Tax consequences | None |
Proposition 2
| Proposition 2 | The constitutional amendment authorizing a county to finance the development or redevelopment of transportation or infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas in the county. Enmienda constitutional que autoriza a un condado a financiar el desarrollo o la reurbanización del transporte o la infraestructura en áreas improductivas, subdesarrolladas o arruinadas en el condado. |
| If I vote for | County governments will be able to issue bonds to fund infrastructure and transportation projects in areas they deem to be blighted or underdeveloped (cities and municipalities have had this authority since 1981). The funds could not be used to fund toll roads, and the county could not pledge more than 65 percent of the increases in property tax revenues each year for repayment. The specific financing tools that would be authorized are tax increment reinvestment zones (TIRZ) and transportation reinvestment zones (TRZ). |
| If I vote against | County governments will not be able to establish or issue bonds for tax increment reinvestment zones (TIRZ) and transportation reinvestment zones (TRZ). |
| Tax consequences | Passage of Proposition 2 would not establish any new taxes or increase the tax rate in the counties issuing bonds. However, the values of the properties in the reinvestment zones would be expected to increase, thus increasing the taxes on those properties. |
Proposition 3
| Proposition 3 | The constitutional amendment to prohibit this state or a political subdivision of this state from prohibiting or limiting religious services of religious organizations. Enmienda constitutional que prohibe que este Estado o una subdivisión política de este Estado prohíba o limite los servicios religiosos de las organizaciones religiosas |
| If I vote for | Government agencies at all levels (state, county, city/municipality) will not be allowed to prohibit or restrict attendance of religious services for any reason, including disaster declarations. |
| If I vote against | Government agencies will continue to have the authority to include religious services in activities prohibited by disaster declarations (as happened in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic). |
| Tax consequences | None |
Proposition 4
| Proposition 4 | The constitutional amendment changing 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. Enmienda constitutional que cambia los requisitos de elegibilidad para un juez de la corte suprema, un juez del tribunal de apelaciones penales, un juez del tribunal de apelaciones y un juez del distrito. |
| If I vote for | Candidates for Texas Supreme Court Justice or Chief Justice, judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals, or justice on courts of appeals will have to: - be licensed to practice law in Texas; - be a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Texas at the time of the election; - be at least 35 years old; and - have been a practicing lawyer or a lawyer and judge of a state or county court of record together for at least 10 years. Candidates for state district judge will have to: - be licensed to practice law in Texas; - be a citizen of the United States and Texas; -have been a practicing lawyer or a judge of a court in Texas, or both combined, for eight years; - have resided in the district in which the person was elected for two years; and - reside in the district during the person’s term in office. This proposition would also require that, during the required time that the candidate was practicing and/or serving as judge, their license to practice law cannot have been revoked, suspended, or subject to a probated suspension. |
| If I vote against | The current eligibility requirements would remain in effect. Texas Supreme Court Justice or Chief Justice: - be licensed to practice law in Texas; - be a citizen of the United States and Texas at the time of the election; - be at least 35 years old; and - have been a practicing lawyer or a lawyer and judge of a court of record together for at least 10 years. State district judge: - be licensed to practice law in Texas; - be a citizen of the United States and Texas; - have been a practicing lawyer or a judge of a court in Texas, or both combined, for four years; - have resided in the district in which the person was elected for two years; and - reside in the district during the person’s term in office. |
| Tax consequences | None |
Proposition 5
| Proposition 5 | The constitutional amendment providing additional powers to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct with respect to candidates for judicial office. Enmienda constitutional que otorga poderes adicionales a la Comisión Estatal de Conducta Judicial con respecto a los candidatos a cargos judiciales. |
| If I vote for | The State Commission on Judicial Conduct is currently empowered to accept and investigate complaints regarding judicial officeholders. If Proposition 5 passes, the Commission will also have the power to accept and investigate complaints regarding the candidates running for judicial office. |
| If I vote against | The State Commission on Judicial Conduct will continue to have the authority to investigate complaints regarding judicial officeholders, but candidates running for judicial office would continue to be outside of the scope of their oversight. |
| Tax consequences | None |
Proposition 6
| Proposition 6 | The constitutional amendment establishing a right for residents of certain facilities to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation. Enmienda constitutional que establece el derecho de los residentes de ciertos establecimientos a designar un cuidador esencial para las visitas en persona. |
| If I vote for | Residents of long term care facilities (like nursing homes and assisted living facilities) will have the right to designate one person to be their essential caregiver, and visitation by the caregiver could not be prohibited. The State Legislature will be authorized to set visitation policies and procedures for these essential caregivers. |
| If I vote against | Visitation policies and procedures will continue to be subject to lockdowns and disaster declarations in times of pandemic or other public health emergencies. |
| Tax consequences | None |
Proposition 7
| Proposition 7 | The constitutional amendment to 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. Enmienda constitutional que constitucional para permitir que el cónyuge sobreviviente de una persona discapacitada reciba una limitación en los impuestos ad valorem del distrito escolar sobre la residencia del cónyuge si este tiene 55 años de edad o más al momento del fallecimiento de la persona |
| If I vote for | In Texas, homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled are granted some limitations on the amount of school district taxes they have to pay as part of their property taxes. In 2019, the Texas Legislature passed a law that extends those property tax limitations to a surviving spouse (who is over 55) when the originally exempted person dies. This proposition will amend the Texas Constitution to reflect the change in the law, and it will provide for refunds of collected taxes from 2020 and 2021 to the surviving spouses. |
| If I vote against | The current language of the Texas Constitution will not change, and surviving spouses could lose their exemptions and see their tax bills increase. |
| Tax consequences | Property taxes would increase for surviving spouses when a homeowner who is over 65 or disabled dies. |
Proposition 8
| Proposition 8 | The constitutional amendment authorizing 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. Enmienda constitutional que autoriza a la legislatura a establecer una exención de impuestos ad valorem de la totalidad o parte del valor de mercado de la residencia del cónyuge sobreviviente de un miembro de las fuerzas armadas de los Estados Unidos que haya fallecido o haya recibido una lesión fatal en cumplimiento del deber. |
| If I vote for | Since 2013, the surviving spouses of members of the U.S. armed forces who were “killed in action” have received a full exemption from homestead property taxes. If this proposition passes, the language will change to “killed or fatally injured in the line of duty,” allowing the exemption to be offered to spouses of those killed performing any function related to their service. |
| If I vote against | The language will remain the same, and the benefit will only be available to the spouses of service members killed in combat. |
| Tax consequences | Passage of this proposal would slightly increase the number of homeowners receiving a full exemption, slightly decreasing the total amount of taxes collected. It is unlikely that there would be significant impact to local governments. |