As we discussed in a previous article, 17 constitutional amendments are going to be presented to the people of Texas for consideration on November 4, 2025. Both political parties submitted these proposals for Constitutional Amendments during the recent session, and some voters are curious as to which party supports each amendment. This article looks to examine each proposition from a party perspective as determined by the amount of legislators from each party that voted for each Amendment.
POLITICAL PARTY SUPPORT FOR APPROVED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
PROPOSITION 1 – Texas Workforce Education and Technical College Fund Amendment
This proposed constitutional amendment would establish two dedicated funds for support of infrastructure, land acquisition, and equipment for the Texas State Technical College System. This amendment was authored by Republican Senators Brian Birdwell and Adam Hinojosa. It was supported by 98% of the Democratic legislators and 83% of the Republican legislators. It is considered a bipartisan amendment because of dual-party support.
PROPOSITION 2: Texas Capital Gains Tax Ban Amendment
This constitutional amendment would prohibit the Texas Legislature from ever being able to institute a capital gains tax in Texas. Currently, Texas does not tax capital gains for individuals, families, estates or trusts. This bill was proposed by Republican Senator Charles Perry. It was co-authored by Republican Senators Paul Bettencourt, Brian Birdwell, Lois Kolkhorst, Mayes Middleton and Charles Schwertner. It was supported by 100% of the Republican legislators, but only 41% of Democratic legislators. Therefore, it is considered a “Republican” amendment.
PROPOSITION 3: Texas Bail Reform Amendment for Felony Offenses
This constitutional amendment was authored by Republican Senator Joan Huffman, but was co-authored by Senators Alvarado (D), Bettencourt (R), Birdwell (R), Campbell (R), Creighton (R), Flores (R), Gutierrez (D), Hagenbuch (R), Hail (R), Hancock (R), Hinojosa (R), King (R), Kolkhurst (R), Menedez (D), Middleton (R), Nichol(R), Parker (R), Paxton (R), Perry (R), Schwertner (R), Sparks (R) and West (D). It was supported by 100% of Republican legislators and 88% of Democratic legislators. The amendment is therefore considered bipartisan.
PROPOSITION 4: Texas Water Fund Sales Tax Revenue Statement
This constitutional amendment dedicates a portion of revenue derived from state sale and use taxes to the Texas Water Fund and allows the legislature to provide for the allocation and use of that revenue. The amendment was authored by House representatives Harris (R), Hunter (R), Martinez (D), Kitzman (R) and Metcalf (R). The amendment was supported by 100% of Democratic legislators and 88% of Republican Legislators. Therefore, the amendment is considered bipartisan, with broad support from both political parties.
PROPOSITION 5: Texas Animal Feed Property Tax Exemption
This constitutional amendment authorizes the legislature to exempt ad valorem taxation of tangible property consisting of animal feed held by the owner of the property for sale at retail. It was authored by Representative Harris (R), and co-authored by Representatives Ashby(R), Buckley (R), Cain (R), Shofner (R), Spiller (R) and Toth (R). The amendment was supported by 84% of Democratic legislators and 99% of Republican legislators. The amendment is therefore considered bipartisan.
PROPOSITION 6: Texas Securities Transaction Tax Ban Amendment
This amendment prohibits the legislature from imposing an occupation tax on certain entities that enter into transactions conveying securities or imposing a tax on certain transactions. Again, there is law currently imposing these taxes; this amendment forbids the legislature from passing a law in the future that would institute additional taxes. It was authored by Representatives Meyer (R), Button (R), Vasut (R), Moody (D), and Anchia (D), and was co-authored by Representatives Ashby (R), Bonnen (R), Harris (R), Hull (R), Landgraf (R), Metcalf (R), Munoz (D) and Plesa (D). It was supported by 96% of Republican Legislators; only 55% of Democratic legislators voted for the amendment. Therefore, it should be considered a “Republican” amendment.
PROPOSITION 7: Texas Homestead Exemption For Surviving Military Spouses
This amendment authorizes the legislature to provide for exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of a residence homestead of the surviving spuse of a veteran who dies as a result of a condition or disease that is presumed under federal law to have been serve-connected. It was authored by Representatives Turner (D), Button (R), Cook (R), Cortez (D) and Linda Garcia (D). It was coauthored by Representative Plesa (D). The amendment was supported by 100% of Democratic legislators and 94% of Republican legislators, making the amendment bipartisan.
PROPOSITION 8: Texas Estate And Inheritance Tax Ban Amendment
This amendment prohibits the legislature from imposing taxes on a decedent’s property or the transfer of an estate, inheritance, legacy succession or gift due to death. It was authored by Representatives Geren (R), McQueeney (R), Meyer (R) and Metcalf (R). It was co-authored by Representatives Bonnen (R), Bumgarner (R), Button (R), Aicha Davis (D), Gerdes (R), Lambert (R), Morgan (R), Munoz (D), Pierson (R), Plesa (D), Slawson (R), Spiller (R), Toth (R) and Troxclair (R). This amendment was supported by 100% of the Republican Legislators, but only 50% of Democratic legislators. The amendment should thus be considered a “Republican” amendment.
Proposition 9: Texas Tangible Property Tax Exemption Amendment
This amendment provides exemption for a part of the market value of tangible property a person owns that is held or used for the production of income. This amendment was authored by Representatives Meyer (R), Bonnen (R), Button (R), Martinez-Fischer (D) and Bernal (D). It lists over 60 other House Representatives as co-authors. This amendment was supported by 86% of Democratic legislators and 95% of Republican legislators. Therefore, it is a bipartisan amendment.
Proposition 10: Texas Property Tax Relief for Homes Destroyed By Fire
This amendment authorizes the legislature to provide temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of the appraised value of an improvement to a residence homestead that is completely destroyed by fire. It was authored by Republican Senator Bettencourt and co-authored by Republican Senator Adam Hinojosa. It was supported by 100% of both Republican and Democrat legislators. With 100% of legislators voting for approval, this amendment is truly bipartisan.
Proposition 11: Texas School District Tax Exemption for Elderly and Disabled
This amendment aims to increase the current exemption of $10,000 to $60,000 for elderly and disabled individuals on top of the current $100,000 exemption already in place. The amendment was authored by Senator Bettencourt and co-authored by 25 other Senators. It was supported by 100% of both Democratic and Republican legislators, which makes the amendment bipartisan.
Proposition 12: Texas Judicial Conduct Commission Reform Amendment
This amendment looks to reform the current practice utilized to handle judicial conduct complaints. This is a major overhaul of the current system, putting more importance on public oversight. It was authored by Republican Senator Huffman, and co-authored by Democratic Senator Zaffrini. It was supported by 100% of Republican legislators but only supported by 65% of Democratic legislators. Therefore, the amendment is considered to be a “Republican” amendment.
Proposition 13: Texas School Homestead Tax Exemption Increase
This amendment raises the normal homestead exemption for taxation by a school district on a primary residence from $100,000 to $140,000. It also allows for the legislature to use general budget funds to help school districts with budget shortfalls due to the lessening taxation revenue. It was authored by 29 Senators from each party, and co-authored by Democratic Senator Miles. It was supported by 100% of legislators from both sides of the aisle, making the amendment a bipartisan amendment.
Proposition 14: Texas Dementia Research and Prevention Institute Amendment
This amendment provides for the establishment of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, establishing the Dementia Prevention and Research Fund to provide money for research, prevention and treatment of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and related disorders in the state, and transferring that fund $3 billion from the state general revenue. It was authored by Republican Senator Huffman and co-authored by Senators Alvarado (D), Birdwell (R), Blanco (D), Juan Hinojosa (D), Johnson (D), Menendez (D), Miles (D), Paxton (R), West (D) and Zaffrini (D). This proposition as supported by 100% of Democratic legislators and 80% of Republican legislators. Because of the significant number of Republicans voting against this amendment, it should be viewed as a “Democratic” amendment.
Proposition 15: Texas Parental Rights Amendment
The purpose of this amendment is to enshrine in the state constitution that parents have an inherent right to determine care, custody and control of their children, and it restricts interference from state or political subdivisions. This amendment was authored by Republican Senator Hughes and co-authored by Republican Senators Creighton, Hagenbuch, Hall, Kolkhorst and Paxton. It was supported by 100% of Republican legislators, but only 66% of Democratic legislators, making this amendment a “Republican” amendment.
Proposition 16: Texas Voter Citizenship Requirement Amendment
This amendment clarifies the requirement that all voters in Texas elections, no matter the level, must be United States citizens. While Federal and Texas law already require voters to be US citizens, this amendment adds another category of excluded classes to voting. Already excluded are minors, mentally incompetent persons and convicted felons. This amendment would add non-US citizens to that list. It was authored by Republican Senator Birdwell and was co-authored by Republican Senator Middleton. Immigration issues being what they currently are, it is not surprising to see 100% of Republican legislators support this amendment, while it only drew support from 58% of Democratic legislators. It therefore is a “Republican” amendment.
Proposition 17: Texas Border Security Property Tax Exemption Amendment
This amendment authorizes 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 Mexico that arises from the installation or construction on the property of border security infrastructure and related improvements. This amendment was authored by Republican Senator Ryan Guillen. There was no co-author. This amendment was supported by 99% of Republican legislators but was only supported by 58% of Democratic legislators. Therefore, it is classified as a “Republican” Amendment.
It is important to carefully consider the underlying philosophy of our state constitutional amendments, and recognize partisan issues and where each party falls on differing constitutional amendments. After a brief examination of each proposed state amendments proposed, it appears that there are 9 truly bipartisan amendments on offer this November, with an additional 7 amendments being “Republican/conservative” amendments and only 1, Proposition 14, being considered “Democratic/liberal”. Origin, author, party philosophy and citizen impact are all factors that should be considered on each of these proposed constitutional amendments before voters arrive in the voting booth.
About the Author:
Sean J. Kilgore, a Criminal Defense attorney with the Kuzmich Law Firm, began his legal career in San Antonio focusing on criminal defense and civil disputes. In 2006, he joined the Denton County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, starting in the Family Violence division and later serving as Chief Prosecutor for County Criminal Courts #2, #3, and #4. He handled a wide range of misdemeanor and felony cases, including DWI, drug possession, and assault, and participated in over 100 jury trials. Mr. Kilgore also played a key role in establishing the Denton County Veteran’s Treatment Court.
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