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Star-Telegram's Nov. 3 election recommendations
PoliTex blog: From North Texas to D.C., our insiders take you beyond the usual rhetoric 
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AUSTIN — House Speaker Joe Straus and other lawmakers made an election-eve push Monday to create more top-flight universities in Texas as voters prepared to go to the polls today to decide on 11 amendments to the 133-year-old Texas Constitution.
The proposed amendments are the only statewide decisions facing voters in an off-year election otherwise dominated by scores of local issues.In Tarrant County, six cities and two school districts have issues on the ballot.A half-cent crime tax is up for reauthorization in Fort Worth. Voters in the Arlington school district are being asked to approve a $197.5 million bond package to buy school equipment, build an elementary school in east Arlington and expand four other schools.Stores in Dalworthington Gardens will be able to sell alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption if voters approve the measure.Elsewhere in Texas, Houston voters will decide who will replace outgoing Mayor Bill White, a candidate for the U.S. Senate.Although elections officials hope that that hotly contested race will bolster voter participation, they nevertheless expect the low turnout that typically characterizes constitutional-amendment elections.The most visible campaign has centered on Proposition Four, which would transfer more than $500 million from a dormant education fund into a new fund to transform at least seven universities into top research universities. Among them: the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of North Texas at Denton and the University of Texas at Dallas.Constitutional amendments Proposition 1: Allows cities and counties to buy buffer areas near military installations to control residential encroachment or make improvements in the area. Proposition 2: Requires that tax appraisals of a person’s primary residence be pegged to the site’s value as a homestead instead of a "highest-and-best use" standard, such as the property’s potential for commercial development. Proposition 3: Allows the state to enforce uniform property appraisal standards. Proposition 4: Creates a state fund to put seven Texas universities, including three in North Texas, on track to become Tier One research universities. Proposition 5: Allows adjoining counties to consolidate tax review boards that hear appeals of property appraisals. Proposition 6: Renews the Veterans Land Board’s bonding authority to continue financing loans that enable Texas veterans to buy land and homes at below-market rates. Proposition 7: Clarifies that members of the Texas State Guard can legally hold other government jobs. Proposition 8: Permits the state to provide money and resources in federal initiatives to develop veterans hospitals. Proposition 9: Strengthens protections of 1959 Texas Open Beaches Act, which gives the public free and unrestricted access to state-owned public beaches. Proposition 10: Lengthens terms for board members in emergency service districts from two to four years. Proposition 11: Strengthen eminent domain protections for property owners to prevent government entities from taking property for private development.Online: www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/2009novballotexp.shtml
DAVE MONTGOMERY IS THE STAR-TELEGRAM’S AUSTIN BUREAU CHIEF, 512-476-4294 AMAN BATHEJA, 817-390-7695
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