adminPROPOSITION 1 – Recommendation: NO
Purpose: Create Permanent Technical Institution Infrastructure Fund (TSTC)
Pros:
• Supports workforce development and technical training
• Strengthens economic growth and job readiness
• Ensures stable long-term funding
Cons:
• Limits legislative flexibility
• Benefits only TSTC
• Adds permanent spending commitment
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PROPOSITION 2 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Ban tax on realized/unrealized capital gains
Pros:
• Reinforces Texas’ no-income-tax reputation
• Encourages investment and job growth
• Prevents future capital gains taxes
Cons:
• Removes potential revenue source
• Redundant (no such tax exists)
• Favors high-income investors
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PROPOSITION 3 – Recommendation: NO
Purpose: Requires judges to deny bail for violent felonies
Pros:
• Improves public safety
• Ensures dangerous offenders remain detained
• Clarifies bail standards
Cons:
• Increases pretrial detention
• Potential fairness concerns
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PROPOSITION 4 – Recommendation: NO
Purpose: Dedicate $1B annually to Texas Water Fund
Pros:
• Long-term water infrastructure investment
• Supports population and agricultural growth
• Promotes sustainable resource management
Cons:
• Restricts budget flexibility
• May not meet all funding needs
• Hard to adjust in future crises
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PROPOSITION 5 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Exempt animal feed inventory from property taxes
Pros:
• Aids agriculture and feed retailers
• Reduces costs for farmers and ranchers
Cons:
• Narrow, industry-specific benefit
• Reduces local tax revenue
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PROPOSITION 6 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Ban taxes on securities market operators/transactions
Pros:
• Encourages financial investment in Texas
• Protects retirement investors
Cons:
• Limits future fiscal flexibility
• Favors financial elites
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PROPOSITION 7 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Property tax exemption for surviving spouses of veterans
Pros:
• Honors military service
• Provides financial stability to survivors
Cons:
• Reduces local revenue
• Applies to narrow group only
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PROPOSITION 8 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Prohibit estate, inheritance, and gift taxes
Pros:
• Protects family assets from double taxation
• Reinforces pro-family and pro-business policy
Cons:
• Symbolic (no current tax exists)
• Reduces future fiscal options
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PROPOSITION 9 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Exempt first $125K of business personal property
Pros:
• Tax relief for small businesses
• Simplifies compliance
Cons:
• Reduces local funding
• Shifts tax burden elsewhere
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PROPOSITION 10 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Temporary exemption for homes destroyed by fire
Pros:
Offers quick relief to homeowners
• Fair treatment after total loss
Cons:
• Applies to limited situations
• Small but permanent revenue loss
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PROPOSITION 11 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Increase senior/disabled school tax exemption to $60K
Pros:
• Relief for fixed-income Texans
• Helps seniors remain in homes
Cons:
• Excludes renters
• Adds long-term fiscal obligation
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PROPOSITION 12 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Reform the State Commission on Judicial Conduct
Pros:
• Enhances transparency
• Adds citizen oversight
Cons:
• May politicize judicial discipline
• Less legal expertise in oversight body
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PROPOSITION 13 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Increase general homestead exemption to $140K
Pros:
• Broad homeowner tax relief
• Encourages homeownership
Cons:
• Excludes renters
• Adds state spending pressure
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PROPOSITION 14 – Recommendation: NO
Purpose: Create Dementia Prevention and Research Institute ($3B)
Pros:
• Invests in Alzheimer’s and dementia research
• Boosts Texas’s biotech sector
Cons:
• High cost and long-term funding risk
• Risk of bureaucracy and inefficiency
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PROPOSITION 15 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Add parental rights to Texas Constitution
Pros:
• Affirms parents as primary decision-makers
• Protects family autonomy
Cons:
• May complicate child protection laws
• Unclear legal implications
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PROPOSITION 16 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Explicitly state that only U.S. citizens can vote
Pros:
• Reinforces election integrity
• Clarifies constitutional language
Cons:
• Redundant (already law)
• Symbolic with no practical change
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PROPOSITION 17 – Recommendation: YES
Purpose: Exempt border-security improvements from property taxes
Pros:
• Encourages cooperation from landowners
• Supports border security measures
Cons:
• Limited regional benefit
• Reduces local tax base
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Key Questions for Voters:
• Does this measure solve an urgent problem?
• Who benefits and who pays?
• Should this be constitutional or legislative policy?
Each amendment reflects a balance between freedom, responsibility, and fiscal stability. Voters must weigh long-term flexibility against immediate relief.