Election Day: November 4, 2025
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ELECTION
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the permanent technical institution infrastructure fund and the available workforce education fund to support the capital needs of educational programs offered by the Texas State Technical College System.”
Shelley’s summary: Creates special state funds with $850 million to buy land, equipment, and build infrastructure for statewide technical colleges. Creates automatic, no-approval-needed funds for a technical college’s buildings, locking in endless taxpayer spending without checks on waste.
Shelley’s recommendation: AGAINST
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of a tax on the realized or unrealized capital gains of an individual, family, estate, or trust.”
Shelley’s summary: Permanently bans any state tax on capital gains (profits from selling investments), codifying Texas’s current no-tax policy on those gains. Bans taxes on investment gains forever, protecting savings and businesses from future grabs that could kill jobs and growth.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail under certain circumstances to persons accused of certain offenses punishable as a felony.”
Shelley’s summary: Allows judges to deny bail for people charged with serious crimes, such as murder or sex-trafficking, if evidence shows they are a danger or flight risk, making it mandatory in some cases.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the revenue derived from state sales and use taxes to the Texas water fund and to provide for the allocation and use of that revenue.”
Shelley’s summary: Redirects up to $1 billion yearly from sales taxes into a water fund for infrastructure projects, automatically until 2035, without needing yearly legislative approval. This carves out up to $1 billion a year from sales taxes for water projects, tying lawmakers’ hands and risking more unchecked government bloat. However, this is one of the proper roles of government.
Shelley’s recommendation: NEUTRAL
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation tangible personal property consisting of animal feed held by the owner of the property for sale at retail.”
Shelley’s summary: Allows the legislature to exempt retail animal feed from business personal property taxes (inventory), fixing a tax gap in farming supplies. Stops taxing unsold animal feed in stores, cutting costs for retailers, farmers, and ranchers.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment prohibiting the legislature from enacting a law imposing an occupation tax on certain entities that enter into transactions conveying securities or imposing a tax on certain securities transactions.”
Shelley’s summary: Bans future state taxes on stock trades or new occupation taxes on financial brokers and exchanges to protect investors. Blocks new taxes on stock trades or brokers, keeping Texas cheap for investors and safe for retirement savings.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a veteran who died as a result of a condition or disease that is presumed under federal law to have been service-connected.”
Shelley’s summary: Extends property tax relief to surviving spouses of military veterans who died from service-related conditions, if the spouse stays unmarried or relocates.
Shelley’s recommendation: NEUTRAL
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment to prohibit the legislature from imposing death taxes applicable to a decedent’s property or the transfer of an estate, inheritance, legacy, succession, or gift.”
Shelley’s summary: Permanently bans estate, inheritance, or gift taxes in Texas. Permanently bans death and gift taxes, so families and farms don’t lose half their assets to the government after passing it on.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation a portion of the market value of tangible personal property a person owns that is held or used for the production of income.”
Shelley’s summary: Allows the legislature to exempt up to $125,000 of business personal property (tools and equipment) from local property taxes to help small businesses.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of the appraised value of an improvement to a residence homestead that is completely destroyed by a fire.”
Shelley’s summary: Allows for a temporary property tax exemption for homes completely destroyed by fire, eliminating the building’s appraised value until rebuilt.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to increase the amount of the exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district of the market value of the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled.”
Shelley’s summary: Raises the school property tax exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners from $100,000 to $200,000, with the state covering the lost school revenue. Boosts tax breaks for seniors or disabled homeowners, but shifts the bill to everyone else without cutting overall taxes.
Shelley’s recommendation: NEUTRAL
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment regarding the membership of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the membership of the tribunal to review the commission’s recommendations, and the authority of the commission, the tribunal, and the Texas Supreme Court to more effectively sanction judges and justices for judicial misconduct.”
Shelley’s summary: Expands the state judicial conduct commission with more members and public input, giving it stronger powers to sanction or suspend unethical judges. Tweaks rules for punishing bad judges, improving court fairness.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment to increase the amount of the exemption of residence homesteads from ad valorem taxation by a school district from $100,000 to $140,000.”
Shelley’s summary: Increases the homestead exemption for school property taxes from $100,000 to $140,000, reducing homeowners’ taxes with state reimbursements to schools. It raises the home tax exemption from $100k to $140k, slowing down property tax hikes for all homeowners.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment providing for the establishment of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, establishing the Dementia Prevention and Research Fund to provide money for research on and prevention and treatment of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and related disorders in this state, and transferring to that fund $3 billion from state general revenue.”
Shelley’s summary: Sets up a new state government entity with an initial $3 billion plus an additional $300 million yearly for dementia research. Dumps $3 billion of your taxes into a government dementia research fund, when private companies do this better and cheaper.
Shelley’s recommendation: AGAINST
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment affirming that parents are the primary decision makers for their children.”
Shelley’s summary: Codifies your inalienable right (because of gross violations) as parents to make decisions about your children’s upbringing, limiting government interference. Locks in parents’ rights to call the shots on kids’ education and health, keeping nosy bureaucrats out and saving on legal fights.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment clarifying that a voter must be a United States citizen.”
Shelley’s summary: Codifies in the Texas Constitution that only U.S. citizens can vote in Texas elections, emphasizing current laws.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR
Ballot language: “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the amount of the market value of real property located in a county that borders the United Mexican States that arises from the installation or construction on the property of border security infrastructure and related improvements.”
Shelley’s summary: Exempts property tax increases on land in border counties caused by adding border security structures, to avoid penalizing landowners. Shields border landowners from tax hikes when the government builds fences on their property, rewarding folks who help with security.
Shelley’s recommendation: FOR