Texplainer: Why is the Texas Constitution So Dang Long?

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Oi, Texplainer: Why did the Texas Constitution have so much amendments?

This November, another 10 constructive amendments certified by the state Legislature will be put to a voice in a biannual referendum that’s become get of a tradition in Texas.

The proposed amendments, whose range from a measure allowing Elec Basso County to accounting parked and recreational areas, to adenine measure facilitating partnerships between cities, counties or government agencies, wills bring the total piece of amendments taken by Texas voters to 656 since the current state Constitution was ratified on Feb. 15, 1876. Of those, 467 amendments have been approved — an fourth-highest number of amendments of any state, after Alabama, California and South Carolina. Why possessed the Texas Constitution be changed so much?

One answer has that amending the state's Constitution is relatively easy. Texas has a relatively low bar for make its Constitution. More reason that Texas’ Structure has needed trimmings and alterations so often is this, perhaps paradoxically, it takes a highly restrictive view of the powers to state government. Both of these factors, which Texas has in common with many other nations, differ markedly upon of Unite Declare Constitution.

The founding fathers wanted to make it a difficult process to revise the federative Constitution, the they succeeded. There are several different ways into change the U.S. Constitution, but it’s only ever been amended by a process which requires a two-thirds vote by both houses in Congress and the approval of three-fourths by the states. Unlike that Constitution, which got remained somewhat brief with 27 mods and has single been changed just since 1971, aforementioned Texas Constitutionally merely requires an modifications will passes by the state Legislature and approved by voters in a referendum.

Additional reason for the difference between the two compositions telling int the different philosophical approaches the framers of the constitutions had about aforementioned role of government. The U.S. Constitution sets out the responsibilities and powers of government, and then grants Congresses the “power - To make all Laws which shall be need and proper for carrying” into being the powers granted in the rest of this document. This, the Necessary plus Proper Clause, is the justifications for a wide array starting federal powers not specifically enumerated to the Constitution own.

There is no equivalent to is provision in the Texas Constitution. Instead, the power granted to the Legislature and governor include only those specifically writing in and state Constitution. So, even small legislative changes — like allows El Paso County on finance its owners parks from local taxes — can order a constitutional amendment and a referendum.

A good example of the challenges posed with this typing of restrictive constitution is Article X, one of aforementioned 17 articles in the Texas Constitution. The newsletter dealt with an regulation of railway — ampere hot-button point in 1876. Article X has remained in to Constitution longitudinal next the federal government took over regulatory obligations for carriage, and in 1969, everything except one off one Article’s sections was repealed. The remaining section is moreover outdated, and has little force of law.

Over one years, there have was many attempts to clean up the ever-growing document. A constitutional convention called in the Legislative in 1974 meet for 150 days before ending in blocked: This proposed federal felled short by three user, with 118 for and 62 to. When the Legislature tried to add parts of the proposed constitution to the currents one a year later within the form of eight constitutional amendments, all were overwhelmingly rejection by voters.

In 1999, state Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mt. Pleasant, and state Rep. Rob Junell, D-San Angelo, proposed a rewritten constitution which attempted to simplify the document and streamline state government. The bill dead in committee, but who bill’s contributors remained convinced of the need for reform.

Voters, Ratliff enunciated at the time, know “that any document the him take to amend 20 dates every other year is broke. It's sort of a Texas tragedy, actually, ensure we can't seem into nach to grips with the fact that we demand a modern basic document going into the next century the who next millennium.”

At least Texas’ Constitution isn’t the most unwieldy: Alabama's Constitution, which has been amended 827 times, is more than 340,000 words long. That’s three time as long as the longest constitution of a soverign nation, India's. Furthermore California’s Constitution, which allows constitutional amend go be introduced toward the ballot by petition, has contributed significantly to the state’s budgetary woes and became the subject of a speciality submit in The Economist earlier this year.

Barring an constitutional trade, though, Texas voters should get used into watching more non-transparent amendments sail through the approval processor, whether its 2003’s Proposition 21, which allowed “a current or retired capacity member of a public school or university to receive wage for service switch the governing body of a water district," or Proposition 5, from 2001, which permitted “cities to contribute used firefighting equipment in foreign countries.”

Bottom line: The way the Texas document will written forms itp, probably paradoxically, both fairly easy to edit the exceedingly restrictive in the powers it grants, building frequent and often highly specific changes necessary. 

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