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AUSTIN — Proposals designed to create a network of top-flight universities, toughen protections for property owners and streamline the state’s tax appraisal system are among 11 state constitutional amendments to be decided by voters in Tuesday’s elections.
The amendments are the only statewide issue facing voters, but election officials are cautiously hoping that dozens of local contests, including a $197.5 million bond issue in Arlington and a mayor’s race in Houston, will help boost turnout. "This is an important election," said Randall Dillard, a spokesman for the Texas secretary of state’s office, which monitors elections. "We hope people will take it seriously and get out and vote." Typically, only a small percentage of the state’s 13 million registered voters show up for constitutional amendment elections. Elections officials fear another poor showing this year, based on early voting, which ended Friday.Only 150,250 voters cast early ballots in the state’s 15 largest counties, a turnout of less than 2 percent of the counties’ registered voters, according to the secretary of state’s office. More than 12,200 residents, about 1.34 percent, voted early in Tarrant County.Voters have approved 456 amendments to Texas Constitution since it was adopted in 1876 at the end of the tumultuous Reconstruction era after the Civil War. They’ve defeated 176.With no blistering hot-button issues on the ballot, debate on most of the amendments has been largely confined to newspaper editorials, letters to the editor, blogs, position papers by think tanks, and sporadic TV ads. The most energetic campaign has focused on Proposition 4, which seeks to create up to seven more top-tier universities — Texas now has three — to make the state more competitive in attracting out-of-state students, research dollars and business capital. Seeking elite statusThe University of Texas at Arlington, the University of North Texas in Denton and the University of Texas at Dallas and four other "emerging universities" would be placed on track to become elite flagship institutions. Voters would be asked to shift $500 million in the largely unused Permanent Higher Education Fund to what would be called the National Research University Fund. Since money is already in the fund, the measure would not mandate additional taxes.Former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and James Huffines, chairman of the University of Texas System board of regents — co-chairmen of Texans for Tier One –— have waged a statewide campaign to sell the proposal to voters, touting an economic study saying that four additional Tier One schools would create 1.2 million jobs by 2035. Educators and business organizations, including the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, have embraced the proposal. The amendment has drawn opposition from the Young Conservatives of Texas, who say the increased focus on research would undercut academic instruction. Tony McDonald of Austin, vice chairman of legislative affairs for the organization, has warned that though Proposition 4 "sounds like a great idea," it could have unintended consequences.
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