Lily Huynh/The Cougar
You may have heard of the passing of the recent Texas propositions, but you probably remained utterly unaware of their impact. In fact, only around 16% of the Texas population even bothered to vote for these “landmark” legislative amendments.
A broken system
The proposition system that Texas implements is fundamentally broken.
In the current system, propositions have sole control over changing the Texas constitution. That means they control tax laws, social policies, civil rights and all types of government funding. Once written, they are presented to the general population, where a simple majority can pass them as amendments. That process seems innocent enough; who can argue with letting Texans decide?
The problem is that Texas holds propositions in years when there are no general elections. General elections, like the presidential and gubernatorial races, are when voter turnout is the highest. In 2020, 66.7% of all Texans voted in the general election, a sharp contrast to the 16% turnout in the legislative elections.
This year had a remarkable turnout, considering that in 2021, only 9% of Texans voted. Why do we stick to these old-fashioned traditions? Simply because it’s easier for the lawmakers.
In an election that is bound to have a low turnout, lawmakers don’t have to campaign because they only aim for one audience. The people who stand to benefit the most from the propositions go and vote for them.
This may indirectly harm indifferent and uninformed people. Passing propositions is made even easier because Texas doesn’t require a supermajority (more than 60% percent) for them to pass. In addition, the language on ballots is vague on finer details and can be confusing for the average voter.
Harmful propositions
Not only is the proposition system terrible lawmaking, but many of these propositions are harmful to the Texas general public and detrimental to the youth.
Propositions face many hurdles before they can even reach the ballot, requiring a supermajority in both the Senate and the House. Conveniently, the Texas legislature is largely gerrymandered, meaning the hurdles are reduced to an open door. This allows whichever ruling party to decide what gets put forth on the ballot and voted on, blocking the opposing party from proposing anything.
Texas doesn’t even allow citizens to put forth propositions on the ballot, unlike other states. This means instead of voting on nationally popular topics such as abortion laws or marijuana legalization, we vote on redundant propositions, like clarifying whether citizens can vote.
The 2025 proposition shows that the Texas legislature is only happy to put forward ones that benefit the wealthy and harm public school funding.
For example, propositions two and six prohibit the passing of laws that would enforce taxes on capital gains and security transactions for a Texas stock market, both of which don’t currently exist.
Capital gains tax predominantly benefits the wealthy, who are the primary beneficiaries. Furthermore, stock exchanges are dominated by the top 10% of the richest households, which own the vast majority of U.S. stocks. Limiting future and current tax use in these avenues means that average Texans are instead saddled with the cost of government spending.
Public school funding is no stranger to getting butchered by the Texas government, but these propositions further the slaughter.
The passing of propositions 11 and 13 prioritizes homeowners and the elderly at the expense of children and future generations of Texans. These would lower taxes for homeowners and the elderly, at the cost of defunding public schools and education.
In the U.S., the elderly hold the majority of wealth and also a large portion of housing despite being a fraction of the population. The implementation of propositions 11 and 13 is outdated and serves only to benefit a small, but overwhelmingly wealthy, population in Texas.
The recent proposals enacted in Texas are not only disappointing but also reveal a far more worrying trend of laws that harm the general public and the youth.
The recent propositions that were put on the ballot should have been met with loud criticism and ridicule. Instead, they serve as a mocking example of how politicians know most people are unlikely to vote or retaliate in politics outside the presidential and gubernatorial elections.
The propositions this time affect public school funding. Next time, it could affect your healthcare or your civil rights. That is a scary outlook that can be easily remedied by exercising your powerful right to vote.
“People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people,” said Alan Moore.
opinion@thedailycougar.com
Great Job Alan Zamora & the Team @ The Cougar for sharing this story.
