Free Republic

Changing Constitutions over obscure gender/family issues: A direct attack on the Irish Constitution (the attack miraculously lost) is now being followed with a similar attack on the New York State Constitution.The trick in Ireland was to say 2 Constitutional Amendments were needed to better support nontraditional families: it was all about supporting women and families, nothing more. But then, why didn’t the language specify how it would help them?The language was confusing and ambiguous, as it so often is. However, seven parties supported it and two opposed it. The Parliament voted in favor. The media were all for it. Then,...

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)– Known as Proposition 1 on the ballot, the Equal Rights Amendment would change the state constitution to expand discrimination protections to more people. That includes age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy outcomes. “I think most New Yorkers think we do have these rights,” said Senator Liz Krueger. “And we’ve passed many laws that say we have these rights. The dilemma is, if you end up in a discrimination lawsuit, and a court says we don’t see that in the constitution, we don’t have that right.” Supporters of the amendment say that adding pregnancy outcomes, it...

When the government gets in the business of making new rights, it pays to look out for the ones you already have. New York Democrats are pushing a November ballot measure, known as Prop. 1, to create new protected classes in the state constitution. The amendment is an attempt to drive Democratic turnout, and it’s a threat to other freedoms. The New York constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed or religion. Prop. 1 adds “sex” to the list and says the term includes “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and...

FRESNO, CA (KMJ) When Governor Gavin Newsom suddenly pulled the plug on Monday’s annual State of the State speech with no explanation, insiders and analysts were quick to assume the reason may be due to the extremely close vote on Proposition 1.More than two weeks after the primary election, the race is still too close to call. As of today, Prop 1, Newsom’s $6.4 billion plan to help California’s homeless and addicts leads by 17,000 votes with 200,000 yet to be counted. The tight race reportedly has Newsom’s group scrambling to find more “yes” votes to push it over the...

Restaurants, recalls and resistance are giving California Gov. Gavin Newsom one of the worst months of his political career. California held its presidential primary election on Super Tuesday, March 5, but it was far from super for the state’s ambitious governor. Voters showed more than a little resistance to passing the ballot measure Newsom had branded with his name and image in TV ads for which he had raised $20 million. Given the razor-close outcome, what was really shocking was the amount spent to oppose the governor’s effort: nothing at all.

With the Texas House Committee on Transportation currently studying the funding of highways in Texas, advocates of toll roads and other funding methods are making their voices heard. As part of the interim charge by Speaker Dennis Bonnen, the committee was tasked with investigating whether “the current mix of use fee-based funding for the state highway system, including registration fees, tolls, and fuel taxes, and [determining] if current funding generated is sufficient to maintain cost demands” — making recommendations for additional methods for funding road infrastructure projects. Ordinarily, the committee would hold meetings and receive testimony from relevant state agencies...

Uber and Lyft spent more than $8 million and bombarded voters with mailers, ads, phone calls and text messages. In the end, it wasn’t enough to convince residents in Austin, Texas to vote against a new fingerprint requirement for drivers. On Saturday, Austin voted 56% to 44% against Proposition 1, which would have allowed ride-hailing companies to continue using their own background check systems. The city will now go ahead with plans to require fingerprint background checks and other regulations. Both Uber and Lyft have announced they will no longer operate in the city as a result of the loss....

People close to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder have formed a fund allowing him to travel the country to more aggressively tell of the state’s rebound under his watch, raising the prospect of a potential Republican presidential bid. A spokesman for the governor told The Associated Press on Friday that a 501(c)(4) group, Making Government Accountable, was established within the past month. “Once we get into May, the governor will travel more out of the state and promote Michigan, particularly the remarkable economic comeback,” Jarrod Agen said. An aide close to the governor said Snyder is considering a presidential run and...

Propositions that are on the November 4, 2008 General Election Ballot* Bond MeasureProposition 1 SB 1856 (Chapter 697, 2002). Costa. Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.** **Note: The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century was originally scheduled to appear on the November 2, 2004, General Election ballot. Subsequently, Senate Bill 1169, Chapter 71, Statutes of 2004, provided that it appear on the November 7, 2006, General Election ballot. However, most recently, Assembly Bill 713, Chapter 44, Statutes of 2006, provides for the submission of this Act on the November...

‘I-69 is dead’ State, federal officials disagree on status of road By Matt Whittaker The Monitor WESLACO, November 9, 2005 — There are not enough federal dollars for an Interstate highway to the Rio Grande Valley, state officials said Tuesday “I-69 is dead in the state of Texas,” Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton told about 75 area city officials and business leaders at a lunch discussion about transportation issues. “The road fairy has been shot.” But federal lawmakers said the project to create an Interstate linking major commercial centers in Mexico, the United States and Canada is still alive and...

While others wage political war over the gay-marriage amendment, the state's anti-toll road forces have launched a vitriolic fight against two little noticed propositions on Tuesday's ballot. The Texas Toll Party is targeting Proposition 1, a straightforward constitutional amendment to begin the process of moving freight rail lines out of densely populated urban areas, and Proposition 9, which would authorize six-year terms for members of regional mobility authorities. If blocking toll roads is your passion, opposing Proposition 9 has some logic, although that position is shortsighted. Toll roads are inevitable. Allowing members of the governing boards to serve six years...

Austin, TX (OPENPRESS) November 3, 2005 -- The majority of Texans are opposed to tax increases and the Trans Texas Corridor, and if enough of them learn that Proposition 1 is a smoke screen for a tax increase, they are expected to vote "no" against the proposal. "I am confident that if Texans knew the financial impact involved, and the unlimited corporate welfare of the rail fund, they would vote against Proposition 1 and defeat it," said Sal Costello, founder of People for Efficient Transportation. "No one wants east coast toll roads here in Texas, or billions in tax increases...

Because of its location, Texas is integral to the creation of the FTAA and the eventual merger of North and South America under a single regional government like the EU. A little more than two years ago, political allies of Texas Governor Rick Perry quietly passed legislation creating the "Trans-Texas Corridor" (TTC). With the connivance of a largely silent press, the most expensive project in the state's history became law with scant public notice. It's bad enough that the TTC will cost at least $185 billion, much of it derived from new toll taxes imposed on existing free roads. It's...

Freight rail lines running in the middle of major roads will be a thing of the past, if voters approve Proposition 1. Proposition 1 would amend the Texas Constitution to create a Rail Relocation Fund to be used by the Texas Department of Transportation and regional mobility authorities. Early voting began Monday for the Tuesday, Nov. 8 election. Essentially, Proposition 1 is asking voters if they want to spend taxpayer money and taxpayer credit to move rail lines like the one in the middle of MoPac. Round Rock Rep. Mike Krusee supports the idea. "For a long time, a goal...

Starting today, all eligible Texans can vote on whether to make nine changes to the state constitution. The propositions include one that affects the Texas railroad industry which, though not the most controversial issue on the ballot, is quickly coming under voter scrutiny. Proposition 1 is listed on the ballot as “the constitutional amendment creating the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund and authorizing grants of money and issuance of obligations for financing the relocation, rehabilitation, and expansion of rail facilities.” The amendment would create the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement fund. According to a summary of the proposition, it's...

They’re noisy and potentially dangerous, but extremely resourceful. And next month you can vote to move freight trains out of highly populated areas - but not everyone's on board. Proposition One would eliminate a lot of that traffic by creating a completely new rail line through the rural part of the state. But along with the upsides to the new track have some potential negatives. You wait for what seems like hours -hough some aren't that long at all. Still trains both large and small serve a valuable service - shipping goods to and from industries. And that's where the...

AUSTIN -- For years, El Paso officials have studied the multimillion-dollar plan to move hundreds of acres of rail yards out of Downtown to make way for more-attractive development. Texas voters might give the officials help with their plan next month. Proposition 1 on the Nov. 8 constitutional amendment ballot would create a state fund of up to $2 billion to help move and improve rail lines statewide. Proponents of the measure say the fund would be the only way to generate billions of dollars needed to move rail yards out of urban areas. Critics contend that the fund would...

Get ready. TTC-35 is coming. Though Michael Behrens wouldn't use those words, not exactly, and he'd probably cringe to realize it, that's the impression he left at the end of an hour and a half of questioning Thursday. "Something is going to have to be built somewhere," the executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation said after meeting in Cameron with a group of reporters from several rural newspapers. There was touch of resignation in his voice when he said it. The Trans Texas Corridor is a proposed multi-lane transportation network designed to carry passenger, freight, rail and utilities....

AUSTIN - The first of nine state constitutional amendments proposed on the Nov. 8 ballot would establish a fund through which taxpayers would help pay for relocating freight rail lines from congested urban areas. Like most of the ballot proposals, except for the ban on same-sex marriages, Proposition 1 has received little attention. But it is beginning to spark some debate and, depending on how it fares at the polls, could become an issue in the March Republican governor's primary. Proposition 1 supporters, including Gov. Rick Perry, think the new fund would be an important step toward easing traffic congestion...

<p>COLUMBIA, Mo. — Voters in this college town rejected a proposition to soften penalties for marijuana possession and allow pot by prescription.</p> <p>With all votes counted, Boone County Clerk Wendy Noren said nearly 58 percent opposed Proposition 1 in Tuesday's election. Vote counting had been slowed by a problem requiring inspection by hand of ballots in an unrelated county race, she said.</p>