Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is election day, and if the early voting is
any indication the polls, you probably won't have a weight
at the polls. Only about seven percent of Texans turned
out for early voting, although again it's a midterm election,
not even a midterm election. It's just a you know,
election without a whole lot of candidates to drive you
to the polls. I mean, there's some school board positions
(00:22):
and those types of things, but the big driver, if
there is a driver, are going to be the constitutional amendments.
Mark Jones, Rice University professor joins us, I don't know
how important these constitutional amendments are to your average Texan,
but there are some fairly important things in here, aren't there.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I definitely. I meant one that probably is the most
interesting homeowner is for those under the age of sixty five,
there's a homestead consumption increase from one hundred thousand to
one hundred and forty thousand. That's Proposition thirteen. There is
a host of other propositions out there. One would increase
money for water funding, another would increase funding for Texas
(01:02):
State Technical College, and then there's even one there for
a creation of a dementia research preprevention Research Institute.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, and there's a couple there too that I think
are preemptive strikes to try to prevent Texas from ever
being able to tax you in other certain areas that
they aren't taxing you currently. But there's always that concern that,
depending on who's running the state government, somebody might come
and try to slip a new tax in there. So
they're banning some things like banning taxes on realized or
(01:33):
unrealized capital gains of an individual, family of state, or
trust for example. That's proposition too.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Right, And then there's also a proposition there that would
ban an inherritance tax. Now nobody's talking about adopting one,
but as you mentioned, if this gets into the constitution,
it becomes very difficult in the future for anyone to
adopt it because that requires a two thirds vote in
the House, two thirds voting the Senate, and then a
popular voting in November.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, and there's one that would prevent the state legislation
from imposing a death tax. So that's another preempt to strike.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, that's the inheritance death tax.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Okay, Yeah, all right, Now, I think maybe the most
important one though, is probably the crime proposition and that's
one that has gotten sort of mixed reviews here, denying
bail under certain circumstances to persons accused of certain offenses
punishable as a felony. It seems very loosely worded. Your
thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, that was put in there in part because of
concerns about what practices that have been going on in
Harris County where we've seen people who are violent criminals,
they're released on bail and then they go out and
commit other violent crimes while out on bail. This would
allow judges in some cases require judges to deny bail
(02:51):
if the prosecutor case so that these people represent either
a threat to themselves or a threat to the broader community,
or represent a threat to JUMPI.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
What do you think the voter turnout is likely to be.
It's not looking like this is going to be a
very well attended election.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I think statewide will probably be somewhere in the low
double digits, so somewhere are like twelve, thirteen, fourteen percent.
There's some other elections statewide that are driving turnout at
a higher level in places like Austin. There's an attempt
by the City of Austin to increase property taxes by
a pretty substantial margin, and that's getting some turnout. And
(03:28):
then down in San Antonio, the San Antonio Spurs have
a proposition on the ballot that would build a new
arena for them. Those are two ones that are really
driving turnout. And then even here in the Harris County
we have the Congressional District eighteen special election that's turnout
in a small part of the region. And then there's
a big Texas State Senate race up in Tarrant County
(03:50):
that's also driving turnout on the.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Republican side, okay, And there's a few other things that
are just position statements. For example, Proposition sixteen voters must
be united eight citizens. Proposition fifteen parents are the primary
decision makers for their children. They're just basically statements of
where the state is going to stand on these particular issues. Right.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Those are just symbolic propositions. They don't really change much
in the way of the status quo. It's already illegal
for a non citizen to vote, and parents already have
primary responsibility for raising their children. It's more a position
statement that is pushed forward by Republican lawmakers just to
signal what their beliefs are. The parents should have the
primary responsibility for raising their children, and then non citizens
(04:34):
should not be allowed to vote.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
All right, Mark, thanks as always appreciate it. Brice University
Professor Mark Jones. It's six twenty seven.
It is election day, and if the early voting is
any indication the polls, you probably won't have a weight
at the polls. Only about seven percent of Texans turned
out for early voting, although again it's a midterm election,
not even a midterm election. It's just a you know,
election without a whole lot of candidates to drive you
to the polls. I mean, there's some school board positions
(00:22):
and those types of things, but the big driver, if
there is a driver, are going to be the constitutional amendments.
Mark Jones, Rice University professor joins us, I don't know
how important these constitutional amendments are to your average Texan,
but there are some fairly important things in here, aren't there.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I definitely. I meant one that probably is the most
interesting homeowner is for those under the age of sixty five,
there's a homestead consumption increase from one hundred thousand to
one hundred and forty thousand. That's Proposition thirteen. There is
a host of other propositions out there. One would increase
money for water funding, another would increase funding for Texas
(01:02):
State Technical College, and then there's even one there for
a creation of a dementia research preprevention Research Institute.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Yeah, and there's a couple there too that I think
are preemptive strikes to try to prevent Texas from ever
being able to tax you in other certain areas that
they aren't taxing you currently. But there's always that concern that,
depending on who's running the state government, somebody might come
and try to slip a new tax in there. So
they're banning some things like banning taxes on realized or
(01:33):
unrealized capital gains of an individual, family of state, or
trust for example. That's proposition too.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Right, And then there's also a proposition there that would
ban an inherritance tax. Now nobody's talking about adopting one,
but as you mentioned, if this gets into the constitution,
it becomes very difficult in the future for anyone to
adopt it because that requires a two thirds vote in
the House, two thirds voting the Senate, and then a
popular voting in November.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, and there's one that would prevent the state legislation
from imposing a death tax. So that's another preempt to strike.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, that's the inheritance death tax.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Okay, Yeah, all right, Now, I think maybe the most
important one though, is probably the crime proposition and that's
one that has gotten sort of mixed reviews here, denying
bail under certain circumstances to persons accused of certain offenses
punishable as a felony. It seems very loosely worded. Your
thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, that was put in there in part because of
concerns about what practices that have been going on in
Harris County where we've seen people who are violent criminals,
they're released on bail and then they go out and
commit other violent crimes while out on bail. This would
allow judges in some cases require judges to deny bail
(02:51):
if the prosecutor case so that these people represent either
a threat to themselves or a threat to the broader community,
or represent a threat to JUMPI.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
What do you think the voter turnout is likely to be.
It's not looking like this is going to be a
very well attended election.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I think statewide will probably be somewhere in the low
double digits, so somewhere are like twelve, thirteen, fourteen percent.
There's some other elections statewide that are driving turnout at
a higher level in places like Austin. There's an attempt
by the City of Austin to increase property taxes by
a pretty substantial margin, and that's getting some turnout. And
(03:28):
then down in San Antonio, the San Antonio Spurs have
a proposition on the ballot that would build a new
arena for them. Those are two ones that are really
driving turnout. And then even here in the Harris County
we have the Congressional District eighteen special election that's turnout
in a small part of the region. And then there's
a big Texas State Senate race up in Tarrant County
(03:50):
that's also driving turnout on the.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Republican side, okay, And there's a few other things that
are just position statements. For example, Proposition sixteen voters must
be united eight citizens. Proposition fifteen parents are the primary
decision makers for their children. They're just basically statements of
where the state is going to stand on these particular issues. Right.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Those are just symbolic propositions. They don't really change much
in the way of the status quo. It's already illegal
for a non citizen to vote, and parents already have
primary responsibility for raising their children. It's more a position
statement that is pushed forward by Republican lawmakers just to
signal what their beliefs are. The parents should have the
primary responsibility for raising their children, and then non citizens
(04:34):
should not be allowed to vote.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
All right, Mark, thanks as always appreciate it. Brice University
Professor Mark Jones. It's six twenty seven.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!