Gov. Greg Abbott has been ordered to declare a debt-raising constitutional amendment invalid after a Travis County district court ruled that the proposition’s language misled voters when it passed in 2021 with 63 percent of the vote.
Background
The statewide ballot measure known as Proposition 2 authorized counties to issue bonds—taxpayer-backed debt—to fund infrastructure and transportation projects in underdeveloped, unproductive, or blighted areas and to use increases in property taxes from those areas to pay off the debt.
This is known as “tax increment financing” and is a tool currently reserved for cities.
However, the ballot language merely read, “The constitutional amendment authorizing a county to finance the development or redevelopment of transportation or infrastructure in unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted areas in the county.”
Absent from the description put before voters was any information about how a county would finance the authorized development or redevelopment.
This led grassroots groups to file a lawsuit in a Travis County district court, alleging the Proposition 2 ballot language failed to comply with common law requirements and was substantially misleading because it neglected to inform voters that the proposal involved debt and property taxes.
The lawsuit was brought by Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, Grassroots America – We The People, the True Texas Project, and the leaders of the three groups. Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson was named as the defendant in her official capacity.
The case was briefly appealed to the Seventh District Court of Appeals in Amarillo on jurisdictional grounds—with the state arguing that voters could never challenge language proposed by the legislature, citing the Texas Constitution’s separation of powers provision. The court ultimately sided with taxpayers, returning the case to Travis County to proceed on the merits.
The Ruling
On Wednesday, the 53rd District Court in Travis County released its final judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.
“By leaving this information out, Proposition 2’s ballot language failed to identify the measure by its chief features, showing its character and purpose,” wrote Judge Jan Soifer. “Therefore, the ballot language of Proposition 2 … omitted a chief feature of the amendment and misled the voters.”
“Accordingly, the Court finds that the results of the November 2, 2021, election on Proposition 2 must be declared void,” Soifer concluded. The order gives Gov. Greg Abbott 10 days to do so.
Attorney Tony McDonald took to X, celebrating the victory.
“Prop 2 would have given counties new debt and tax authority to fund property developments. It was identical to a proposal that was rejected by voters in 2011 by a 60-40 margin. Our suit was simple—the ballot language the legislature chose in 2021 was misleading and unlawful because it hid the debt and tax consequences of the proposal from the voters,” wrote McDonald.
“Now the court of appeals and a Travis County district court have agreed with us that the legislature misled the public and the results of the election are therefore void,” he continued. “It’s been a long journey to get to a final judgment, but in the course of this battle we’ve secured good precedent that will protect Texas voters and taxpayers in the future.”
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