Contact McNeely at davemcneely111@gmail.com.
Of the 10 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution in the Nov. 5 election, the one that seems to have drawn the most serious opposition is Proposition 4, which would outlaw a state income tax.
Opponents point out that, while Texas does not currently have an income tax, and no serious plans for one, there is already a steep hurdle against it.
The constitutional hurdle was passed by voters in 1993, pushed by the late former Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, the presiding officer of the Texas Senate.
The Bullock Amendment, as it’s called, says that for an income tax to go into effect, it would require a majority vote in both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate to put the proposal before a statewide referendum.
Then, it would have to be approved by a majority of Texas voters.
The proceeds from an income tax, after collection costs, would be split two-thirds for property tax relief, and one-third for public education.
The Dallas News editorialized Oct. 18 that the proposed amendment was unnecessary, and a hindrance should Texas need more tax sources in the future.
“This newspaper opposes a state income tax,” the editorial pointed out. “Its absence is one of the big reasons people move here and companies do business here.
“The state constitution already requires the approval of a majority of lawmakers and then a majority of voters to change that,” the editorial continued.
“But Proposition 4 would unnecessarily require a supermajority (two-thirds) (to attempt to amend the constitution to remove the prohibition if it passes).
“There’s no need to clutter the constitution with unnecessary amendments like this,” the editorial said.
“Voters should pay attention at the polls because the ballot language is confusing,” the editorial warned.
The ballot proposal reads:
“Proposition 4 (HJR 38) ’The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual income tax, including a tax on an individual’s share of partnership and unincorporated association income.”
“A ‘yes’ vote,” the Dallas News explained, “means you want to make it tougher to create a state income tax. A ‘no’ means you’re in favor of keeping the law the way it is.”
Bullock as the state’s comptroller, or tax collector, for 16 years before election as lieutenant governor in 1990, was a big supporter of a state income tax. Texas is one of just seven states without one.
Most states have a three-legged stool on taxes: property taxes; consumption (or sales) taxes; and income taxes. With no income tax, Texas is among the states with the highest property and sales taxes.
A few weeks after their joint inauguration in 1991, new Gov. Ann Richards invited Bullock to a gathering of newspaper editors at the governor’s mansion.
He blurted out to the group that Texas needs an income tax. Even though that irked the fledgling Richards administration, Bullock continued to press for an income tax.
But few legislators saluted. By 1993, Bullock realized Republicans were going to attack him in his battle for re-election in 1994 for supporting an income tax, and try to amend the constitution to prohibit an income tax.
So, Bullock struck first. He pushed through a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a majority vote of the public before an income tax could go into effect, but require only a majority vote in both House and Senate to authorize the referendum.
If the constitution is amended to outlaw an income tax, as Proposition 4 would require, it would take a two-thirds vote in both House and Senate to attempt to amend the constitution to remove the prohibition.
Dick Lavine, a senior fiscal analyst for the progressive Center for Public Policy priorities, said Proposition 4 simply isn’t needed.
“If you’re looking for voter control over a state income tax,” Lavine said, “you’ve already got it.”
Early voting began Monday, Oct. 21, and lasts through Friday, Nov. 1. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
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BonnenGate. . . . The Republican Caucus of the Texas House of Representatives voted behind closed doors Friday, Oct. 18, to condemn House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s statements in a June 12 meeting with Michael Quinn Sullivan, head of ultra-right political group Empower Texans.
Sullivan had secretly recorded it. He finally released the tape to the public early last week.
It confirmed that Bonnen, who had said incumbent House members shouldn’t campaign against other incumbents, had asked Sullivan to oppose 10 Republican House members.
They had voted against Bonnen’s effort to bar city and county governments from spending tax money to hire legislative lobbyists.
Bonnen said in return, he would give House press passes to Sullivan’s employees.
The odds against Bonnen winning a second term as speaker have gone way down, and he may not even finish his first.
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