Burnt Orange Report is creating a series of posts to evaluate the amendments and linking to various other organizations and people on the pros/cons of each. Early voting started on Monday and BOR will issue a summary and their endorsements on some this Friday. Right now all the amendments are individual posts so you will have to hunt around on their site to research them all. Or wait for Friday when they do the summary/endorsement post.
Prop 1Texas Constitutional AmendmentsProposition 1: Authorizing Local Financing To Buy Buffer Areas Near Military Installations"Currently, municipalities and counties do not have a method to raise the revenue needed to acquire land to provide a buffer zone or open space to prevent encroachment from development, or to fund the construction of roadways, utilities, or other infrastructure to protect or promote the mission of adjacent military installations." --League of Women Voters Guide
Source: Endorsement:
Austin Chronicle: NO. "We've had quite enough of state-subsidized militarism (and the Lege didn't even bother to authorize the bonds). Let the bases rub up against the neighborhoods where they live."
El Paso Times: YES. "Care would have to be taken to ensure that governments didn't use this power to unnecessarily raise property taxes, particularly in these tough economic times."
Here's another one we've discussed on the board -
Prop 4"To enable emerging research universities in Texas to achieve national prominence, this amendment would establish a new National Research University Fund. The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University would not be eligible to receive money from this fund." --League of Women Voters Guide
All of their sources say "yes" on this one except the Houston Tea Party Patriots.
Houston Tea Party Patriots: NO. "Research conducted in the private market is efficient and effective and doesn't involve the use of billions of tax dollars. Moreover, the past has shown that research-oriented universities are more expensive for students and provide a lower-quality education, as professors spend less time in the classroom and more time conducting research projects."
I'm going to wait til next week to vote but I will be voting Yes on #4!
Sonia
