Texas Proposition 6 (2009)

Texas Constitution
Articles
Preamble • 1 • 2 Article 3 (1-43) • Article 3 (44-49) • Article 3 (50-67) 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17

Texas Proposition 6, also known as House Joint Resolution 116, appeared on the November 3, 2009 ballot in Texas as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved.

The measure, authored by Rep. Frank Corte, Jr., allows the sale of state general obligation bonds in order to sell property and land to Texas veterans. In addition, the general obligation bonds could be used to provide home or land mortgage loans to those veterans. The bill also states that the amount of outstanding bonds could not exceed the amount of authorized state obligation bonds.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte.

Election results

Texas Proposition 6 was approved by voters on the night of November 3, 2009. Unofficial election results follow:

Texas Proposition 6
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		670,044	65.71%
No		349,637	34.28%

Text of measure

The short ballot summary Texas voters saw on their ballot was "The constitutional amendment authorizing the Veterans' Land Board to issue general obligation bonds in amounts equal to or less than amounts previously authorized."

Constitutional changes

See also: Amending the Texas Constitution

If Proposition 6 amends Section 49-b(w) of Article 3 of the Texas Constitution to say:

The Veterans' Land Board may provide for, issue, and sell general obligation bonds of the state for the purpose of selling land to veterans of the state or providing home or land mortgage loans to veterans of the state in a principal amount of outstanding bonds that must at all times be equal to or less than the aggregate principal amount of state general obligation bonds previously authorized for those purposes by prior constitutional amendments. Bonds and other obligations issued or executed under the authority of this subsection may not be included in the computation required by Section 49-j of this article. The bond proceeds shall be deposited in or used to benefit and augment the Veterans' Land Fund, the Veterans' Housing Assistance Fund, or the Veterans' Housing Assistance Fund II, as determined appropriate by the Veterans' Land Board, and shall be administered and invested as provided by law. Payments of principal and interest on the bonds, including payments made under a bond enhancement agreement with respect to principal of or interest on the bonds, shall be made from the sources and in the manner provided by this section for general obligation bonds issued for the benefit of the applicable fund.

Section 49-b(w) previously read:

(w) In addition to the general obligation bonds authorized to be issued and to be sold by the Veterans' Land Board by previous constitutional amendments, the Veterans' Land Board may provide for, issue, and sell general obligation bonds of the state to provide home mortgage loans to veterans of the state. The principal amount of outstanding bonds authorized by this subsection may not at any one time exceed $500 million. The bond proceeds shall be deposited in or used to benefit and augment the Veterans' Housing Assistance Fund II and shall be administered and invested as provided by law. Payments of principal and interest on the bonds, including payments made under a bond enhancement agreement with respect to principal of or interest on the bonds, shall be made from the sources and in the manner provided by this section for general obligation bonds issued for the benefit of the Veterans' Housing Assistance Fund II.

Editorial positions

Main article: Endorsements of Texas ballot measures, 2009

Editorial boards in support

• The Austin Chronicle supportd Proposition 6. The editorial board said,"This allows rollover bond authority without a special authorization every single time; it's not a constitutional matter."
• The El Paso Times is in favor of the proposition. They said, "This will allow the Veterans Land Board to continue to issue loans to veterans, using money that has been paid back on previous loans."

Editorial boards opposed

• The Star-Telegram opposed Proposition 6. The editorial board said,"The Veterans’ Land Board sells bonds to make reduced-rate loans for veterans who buy homes or land. It’s a great program. The amount of outstanding bonds, backed by the state but historically paid off by loan recipients at extremely low default rates, is limited by the constitution. Every time the VLB needs more money, it has to come to voters for a constitutional amendment."

Campaign contributions

No committees or contributions to campaigns relating to Proposition 6 were reported.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing direct democracy in Texas

The measure was filed with Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade on June 3, 2009.

The Texas House of Representatives approved the proposed amendment on May 1, 2009 with a vote of 144-0, followed by the State Senate on May 19, 2009 with a vote of 30-0.

As laid out in Article 17 of the Texas Constitution, in order for a proposed constitutional amendment to be placed on the ballot, the Texas State Legislature must propose the amendment in a joint resolution of both the Texas State Senate and the Texas House of Representatives. The joint resolution can originate in either the House or the Senate. The resolution must be adopted by a vote of at least two-thirds of the membership of each house of the legislature. That amounts to a minimum of 100 votes in the House of Representatives and 21 votes in the Senate.

Suggest a link

See also

• Texas 2009 ballot measures
• List of Texas ballot measures
• Texas State Senate
• Texas House of Representatives

External links

• HJR 116 summary from Texas Legislative Reference Library
• Texas Secretary of State Official Website
• Past Texas Amendment Election Results
• Amendment Overview

Additional reading

• KGNS-TV,"Eleven proposed constitutional amendments before Texas voters this November," October 19, 2009
• The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal,"Key items on ballot for Texans," October 18, 2009
• Fort Worth-Star Telegram, "Tuesday's ballot includes 11 constitutional amendments", November 1, 2009
• Dallas Morning-News, "Texas proposition advocates make final push", November 2, 2009