History of direct democracy in Texas

The founders of the Texas initiative and referendum movement were two ministers: Rev. A. B. Francisco of Milano and Rev. B. F. Foster of Galveston. Also important in Texas I&R leadership before 1900 was Judge Thomas B. King of Stephenville, county judge of Erath County.

By 1912 Congressman (later U.S. Senator) Morris Shepard had declared himself in favor of I&R; in 1913 the legislature passed a bill allowing I&R as an option for home rule cities and a state constitutional amendment providing for statewide I&R.

The latter amendment would have required signatures equal to 20 percent of the number of ballots cast in the previous election. When the amendment was put on the ballot for voter approval in 1914, voters rejected it. Some I&R advocates believed that they could get the legislature to pass a different version with easier requirements. They were unable to do so, however.

1978 - Present

After little activity from I&R advocates for more than 50 years, efforts were restarted following the approval of California's Proposition 13 tax cut initiative in 1978. Leading the movement was Republican State Senator Walter Mengden of Houston, who had pushed unsuccessfully for I&R at the state's 1974 constitutional convention and in the legislature until his retirement in 1982. Within a month of the California vote, Governor Dolph Briscoe and gubernatorial candidate William Clements had announced their support for statewide I&R.

Leading the opposition was the Houston lobbyist James K. Nance. Some of the largest clients of Nance's law firm included Union Carbide, DuPont, Houston Power and Light, Pennzoil, and United Texas Gas Transmission.

In 1980 the state's Republicans put an I&R measure on their party's May 2 statewide primary election ballot, and party members endorsed it by a seven to one margin. Senator Mengden, who advocated in support of I&R, retired, however, and the efforts for statewide I&R slowed down. Nevertheless, Texas Republicans put the I&R question on their primary ballot again on May 6, 1982, and party voters favored it by a five to one margin.

After 1994, the state’s Republican Party removed the pro I&R position from the Party’s platform and replaced it with the position of opposition to I&R. This change effectively ended any chances of I&R being adopted in the state at the time.

External links

• Initiative for Texas, an organization lobbying for I&R in Texas.
• I&R Institute's Texas history

Acknowledgements

This Initiative & Referendum Institute article is used with permission. It is based on David Schmidt's book, Citizen Lawmakers: The Ballot Initiative Revolution.

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