Texas voters agree to three key infrastructure investments

This is a preview of our Texas 2036 newsletter highlighting what voters decided in the November 2023 constitutional amendment election. To receive this weekly look at our work, sign up here.

A resounding “Yes” on water, broadband and parks

The voters speak… Voters on Tuesday decided on a total of 14 proposed amendments — also known as propositions in an election — to the Texas Constitution.

During the legislative session, Texas 2036 supported legislation establishing new, constitutionally-dedicated funds for water infrastructure, broadband and state parks.

The legislation garnered overwhelming, bipartisan support in the House and Senate. Here are the vote tallies for the enabling legislation and the resolutions creating the ballot propositions:

Water infrastructure (Prop 6):
Senate Bill 28: 140-0 in the House, 31-0 in the Senate
Senate Joint Resolution 75: 137-6 in the House, 31-0 in the Senate

Broadband (Prop 8):
House Bill 9: 138-8 in the House, 30-1 in the Senate
House Joint Resolution 125: 136-9 in the House, 30-1 in the Senate

State parks (Prop 14):
SB 1648: 125-19 in the House, 26-3 in the Senate
SJR 74: 123-21 in the House, 26-3 in the Senate

And here’s the rest of the story… Texas 2036 also worked tirelessly after sine die to educate voters on the importance of those three significant down payments on the future of our water security, the statewide availability of broadband internet service and the expansion of our state parks system.

It was exciting to see how Texans responded to this call to invest in the Texas we would like to see.

Here’s a recap of our efforts to raise awareness on these three ballot propositions:

• 700+ Texas 2036-generated content pieces (newsletters, blogs, handouts, social media posts and videos)
• 105+ outside media mentions
• 543,000+ social media impressions

How did the other amendments fare?

Voters also had their say on 11 other proposed changes to the Texas Constitution, including some high profile amendments cementing the latest round of property tax reductions, giving retired teachers a cost of living adjustment and establishing a new funding source for Texas research universities.

In all, 13 of the 14 amendments passed. Here’s how the voters decided on the other 11 amendments on the ballot:

✅ Prop 1 (right to farm)
79% FOR
21% AGAINST

✅ Prop 2 (child-care facility property tax exemption)
65% FOR
35% AGAINST

✅ Prop 3 (wealth tax prohibition)
68% FOR
32% AGAINST

✅ Prop 4 (property tax reduction)
83% FOR
17% AGAINST

✅ Prop 5 (Texas University Fund)
64% FOR
36% AGAINST

✅ Prop 7 (Texas Energy Fund)
65% FOR
35% AGAINST

✅ Prop 9 (retired teachers cost of living pension adjustment)
84% FOR
16% AGAINST

✅ Prop 10 (biomedical manufacturer property tax exemption)
55% FOR
45% AGAINST

✅ Prop 11 (El Paso County parks bond issue)
63% FOR
37% AGAINST

✅ Prop 12 (Galveston County abolition of county treasurer)
53% FOR
47% AGAINST

❌ Prop 13 (raising mandatory retirement age of state judges)
37% FOR
63% AGAINST

Changing the Constitution, by the numbers

📜 Did you know? The Texas Constitution is one of the longest in the nation and still growing.

• Until the results of this week, the Constitution has been amended 517 times since its adoption in 1876.
• As of 2022, the Texas Legislature has proposed 700 amendments.
• And until the results of this week, 180 proposed amendments have been defeated by Texas voters.

👉 The bottom line… thanks to our supporters and to all Texans who rallied around the idea that Texas must remain focused on acting now to meet the future’s challenges!

Which of this year’s constitutional amendments do you think are the most important?

Let us know in our short survey!