Posted on 10/23/2007 10:03:56 PM PDT by creton4
The 2007 Texas Constitutional Amendment Election is scheduled for November 6, 2007.
Sixteen proposed amendments (propositions) appear on the ballot -- from $4 billion for establishing a cancer research center in Texas (proposition 15) to getting rid of the obsolete office of county animals and hides inspector (proposition 10).
For starters, here’s a hillarious argument against Proposition 10!
http://www.geocities.com/saveourhides
The ED stands out:
Proposition 7 (H.J.R. No. 30) — The constitutional amendment to allow governmental entities to sell property acquired through eminent domain back to the previous owners at the price the entities paid to acquire the property.
— Comments by supporters: House Joint Resolution No. 30 would allow property to be sold back to property owners whose property was acquired through eminent domain under certain conditions at the price the condemning entity paid for the property. Private property rights are some of the most fundamental rights we have as individuals in this country. If there is going to be an imbalance related to the acquisition of private property for public use, the balance should be in favor of the private property owner, not the state. There is something fundamentally wrong with forcing a private property owner to pay more for the owner’s former property than the government paid for it when the government acquired it, even though the value of the property may have increased. House Joint Resolution No. 30 will give a governmental entity an incentive to be more specific as to the purpose for which the entity is acquiring private property and prevent the entity from benefiting from the acquisition after it has failed to use the property for the purpose for which the property was acquired.
— Comments by opponents: House Joint Resolution No. 30 would give property owners a financial windfall because selling property to previous property owners at the price the governmental entity paid for that property does not account for: (1) any increased value in the property; (2) property taxes and other maintenance costs for the property that have accrued between the time the property was acquired and the time a condition was met for repurchase; and (3) the cost, including the cost for bonds and enhancing the property, paid by the governmental entity for the property. The proposed amendment also would create a disincentive for a property owner to negotiate a deal with a governmental entity because the option of repurchase is only available to a property owner whose property was condemned by eminent domain, not to an owner who negotiated a deal with the governmental entity in a voluntary transaction.
If they want any money, I always vote no. I figure there are enough numbskulls who will vote yes for anything since they think it isn’t their money being spent.
I am voting NO on all bonds, and YES on most of the technical changes/corrections. (NO on prop 14).
Travis Monitor Articles on the Constitutional Ballot props -
Guide to the 2007 Texas Constitutional Amendment election
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2007/10/guide-to-2007-texas-constitutional.html
Vote No on Prop 12 -
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2007/10/vote-no-on-prop-12-highway-bond-issue.html
Texas Cancer program & Proposition 15 - Not Needed
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2007/10/texas-cancer-program-proposition-15-not.html
This amendment sets up a double diversion of highway funding and allows the legislature to steal money for political purposes. Highway funds are diverted to the general fund and this would divert general funds to highway funding.
The legislature needs to stop diverting the highway funds.
Like Texas needs ANOTHER cancer research center. What’s the matter? M.D. Anderson (the best freakin’ cancer center in the WORLD) not good enough for them? Must be the fact that the Bush family is one of the major donors to Anderson. MDA was the hospital that took care of Pauline Bush (the daughter that died of leukemia when W was very young)
READ THE AMENDMENTS CAREFULLY AND VOTE ACCORDINGLY! DON'T LET THE WOOL BE PULLED OVER YOUR EYES AGAIN!
Thank you, Ben.
Not really sure why you excerpted this.
For those interested, here is the text of the proposed amendments from the Texas SoS site. (Minus the disgusting spanish version)
"The constitutional amendment providing for the continuation of the constitutional appropriation for facilities and other capital items at Angelo State University on a change in the governance of the university."
"The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of $500 million in general obligation bonds to finance educational loans to students and authorizing bond enhancement agreements with respect to general obligation bonds issued for that purpose."
"The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide that the maximum appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem taxation is limited to the lesser of the most recent market value of the residence homestead as determined by the appraisal entity or 110 percent, or a greater percentage, of the appraised value of the residence homestead for the preceding tax year."
"The constitutional amendment authorizing the issuance of up to $1 billion in bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for maintenance, improvement, repair, and construction projects and for the purchase of needed equipment."
"The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to permit the voters of a municipality having a population of less than 10,000 to authorize the governing body of the municipality to enter into an agreement with an owner of real property in or adjacent to an area in the municipality that has been approved for funding under certain programs administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture under which the parties agree that all ad valorem taxes imposed on the owner's property may not be increased for the first five tax years after the tax year in which the agreement is entered into."
"The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation one motor vehicle owned by an individual and used in the course of the owner's occupation or profession and also for personal activities of the owner."
"The constitutional amendment to allow governmental entities to sell property acquired through eminent domain back to the previous owners at the price the entities paid to acquire the property."
"The constitutional amendment to clarify certain provisions relating to the making of a home equity loan and use of home equity loan proceeds."
"The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt all or part of the residence homesteads of certain totally disabled veterans from ad valorem taxation and authorizing a change in the manner of determining the amount of the existing exemption from ad valorem taxation to which a disabled veteran is entitled."
"The constitutional amendment to abolish the constitutional authority for the office of inspector of hides and animals."
"The constitutional amendment to require that a record vote be taken by a house of the legislature on final passage of any bill, other than certain local bills, of a resolution proposing or ratifying a constitutional amendment, or of any other nonceremonial resolution, and to provide for public access on the Internet to those record votes."
"The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of general obligation bonds by the Texas Transportation Commission in an amount not to exceed $5 billion to provide funding for highway improvement projects."
"The constitutional amendment authorizing the denial of bail to a person who violates certain court orders or conditions of release in a felony or family violence case."
"The constitutional amendment permitting a justice or judge who reaches the mandatory retirement age while in office to serve the remainder of the justice's or judge's current term."
"The constitutional amendment requiring the creation of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and authorizing the issuance of up to $3 billion in bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for research in Texas to find the causes of and cures for cancer."
"The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $250 million to provide assistance to economically distressed areas."
Most of the above are fairly straightforward. My take:
Yes: 9,10,11,14
No: 1,2,3,4,6,12,13,15,16
Need more info: 5,8
Always vote against bonds and other forms of deferred taxation.
Why a “No” vote on Proposition 1.
The amendment simply states Angelo State can continue to receive state appropriations when it transfers from under the control of the Texas State University System to the Texas Tech University System.
It is not their fault the Texas Constitution is archaic and an amendment must be added for the university to change systems.
Because any time money is mentioned in either legislation or a constitutional amendment, it is almost always a means to tax me more either today, or tomorrow.
The default proposition is to vote no until I can be shown that this isn't true in a particular case.
Wow, thanks for your well-thought-out message and for the info on the rest of the items.
I’m still voting NO on Prop. 10, though. It would create a huge mess and discrepancy between the constitution and state statutes, that will further backlog our courts. The Legislature should vote on getting rid of the references first. OR, better yet, with all the attention given to the mad cow outbreak and animal ID, why not try something novel and let the COUNTIES inspect animals? That’d be cool. :)
People have not run for that office in some time (the last one in Fort Bend Country was my High School girlfriend’s father in the 80’s).
Bureaucrats and other organizations have since filled that void as a courtesy, but they are acutely mindful that they can have their authority trumped should they get too far out of line. That is to say, if they piss-off the locals, one of those locals can run for office and take over at any time.
Voting YES for Prop 10 will guarantee full authority to bureaucrats and eliminate local country rights to this elected official should the need arise. Not a smart move and I'm disappointed that no legislators apparently picked up on this.
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