This November, Texans will vote on 17 proposed changes to the Texas Constitution. These amendments cover everything from water infrastructure and property taxes to bail reform and judicial oversight. On the surface, many sound great — investing in schools, lowering taxes, or protecting families. But when you look closer at what they could mean for the future — whether they even require a constitutional amendment, or how they lock policies in permanently — they start to look very different.

After several weeks of intensive research—reading the bills, watching the legislative debates, and analyzing each proposition in detail—Wake Up Texas initially supported some and opposed others. We wrote Substack articles that explain each proposition, what they do, and the pros and cons. If you’d like to learn more about a specific amendment, you ’ll find links to those articles on the individual proposition pages of our website.

As we continued studying the propositions and began looking at the full picture, we saw a pattern. Instead of addressing complex issues through legislation, lawmakers are turning to constitutional amendments to push ideas through quickly without doing the hard work of statesmanship and collaboration.

Our Constitution should protect fundamental rights and freedoms—not serve as a tool for one party to push through unpopular legislation simply because it has the votes to do so. We saw a clear example of this during the most recent redistricting process, the GOP- controlled legislature ignored overwhelming public opposition and pushed the new maps through anyway. That case is now being challenged in court—at taxpayer expense.

Many of these propositions don’t require constitutional amendments at all; they simply lock temporary or political solutions into place for future generations to live with.

For that reason, Wake Up Texas now recommends a “no” vote on all 17 amendments. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good ideas among them—funding for technical colleges, improving water infrastructure, and funding dementia research all have merit. But these amendments don’t solve the main problems Texans actually face. For example, several reduce taxes but do nothing to fix our regressive tax system. They just exempt certain groups or properties from taxation, which means someone else will have to make up the difference. Where will that money come from?

Texans deserve a legislature that will govern through fair debate, thoughtful policy, and real legislation—not through permanent constitutional changes.

why does this matter?

The Texas Constitution is more than just a legal document—it defines our rights, our responsibilities, and our future. Anytime the legislature wants to change state law or create new programs through a constitutional amendment, it must bring that change to the people.

But none of these 17 amendments rise to the level of protecting fundamental constitutional rights that safeguard all Texans. Instead, they enshrine policy choices that could and should be handled through the normal legislative process.