Texas Proposition 8, Flood Infrastructure Fund Amendment (2019)

Texas Proposition 8
Election date November 5, 2019
Topic State and local government budgets, spending and finance
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature
List of Texas measuresTexas Proposition 1Texas Proposition 2Texas Proposition 3Texas Proposition 4Texas Proposition 5Texas Proposition 6Texas Proposition 7Texas Proposition 8Texas Proposition 9Texas Proposition 10Submit

Texas Proposition 8, the Flood Infrastructure Fund Amendment, was on the ballot in Texas as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2019. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to create the Flood Infrastructure Fund, which the Texas Water Development Board would use to provide financing for flood drainage, mitigation, and control projects.

A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment to create the Flood Infrastructure Fund.

Election results

Texas Proposition 8
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		1,538,726	77.87%
No		437,384	22.13%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Proposition 8 do?

Proposition 8 created the Flood Infrastructure Fund. The Texas Water Development Board was authorized to use the fund for projects related to flood drainage, mitigation, and control.

Where did the Flood Infrastructure Fund's money come from?

The ballot measure allocated, due to language in a supplemental appropriations bill, $793 million from the economic stabilization fund, also known as the rainy day fund, for the flood infrastructure fund. The enabling legislation for Proposition 8, Senate Bill 7 (SB 7), outlined how the flood infrastructure fund receives revenue beyond the one-time $793 million from the economic stabilization fund. According to SB 7, revenue could come from legislative appropriations; general obligation bonds; fees and other sources that the legislature dedicates for the fund; repayments of loans made from the fund; interest earned on credits; depository interest; money from gifts, grants, or donations; and revenue bonds or other sources that the Texas Water Development Board designates for the fund.

How was Proposition 8 placed the ballot?

State Rep. Dade Phelan (R-21) authored Proposition 8, which was introduced during the 2019 legislative session. The constitutional amendment received the unanimous support of (present) Democrats and Republicans in the Texas State Legislature, making the amendment one of three passed in 2019 that received no opposition from legislators. The other two constitutional amendments to receive no legislative opposition were the Allowed to Serve as Multiple Municipal Judges and the Transfer of Care of Law Enforcement Animals Amendment.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the flood infrastructure fund to assist in the financing of drainage, flood mitigation, and flood control projects.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article 3, Texas Constitution

The measure added a Section 49-d-14 to Article 3 of the Texas Constitution. The following text was added:

Note: Use your mouse to scroll over the text below to see the full text.

Sec. 49-d-14. (a) The flood infrastructure fund is created as a special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue fund.

(b) As provided by general law, money in the flood infrastructure fund may be administered and used, without further appropriation, by the Texas Water Development Board or that board ’s successor in function to provide financing for a drainage, flood mitigation, or flood control project, including:

(1) planning and design activities;

(2) work to obtain regulatory approval to provide nonstructural and structural flood mitigation and drainage; or

(3) construction of structural flood mitigation and drainage infrastructure.

(c) Separate accounts may be established in the flood infrastructure fund as necessary to administer the fund or authorized projects.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2019

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Texas State Legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 16, and the FRE is 26. The word count for the ballot title is 25, and the estimated reading time is 6 seconds. In 2017, the average grade level for ballot measure titles in Texas was 25.

Support

Supporters

Officials

The following legislators were sponsors of the constitutional amendment:

• Rep. Dade Phelan (R-21)
• Rep. Will Metcalf (R-16)
• Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-51)
• Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-147)
• Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-31)
• Rep. Armando Martinez (D-39)
• Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-4)
• Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-7)
• Sen. Gina Hinojosa (D-49)

Parties

• Texas Republican Party

Organizations

• Progress Texas

Arguments

The League of Women Voters of Texas published arguments for and arguments against the ballot measure. The following is the argument in support:

“

Severe flooding events such as Hurricane Harvey show the necessity of being prepared to prevent future damage. Access to federal funding and grants often requires local governments to match the amount of money the federal government would provide. The proposed amendment would allow the TWDB to give loans to local governments so they could access federal funds. Because removing money from the Economic Stabilization Fund to create the FIF would be a one-time expense, rather than ongoing, it would not drain the “rainy day fund.”

”

Opposition

Arguments

The League of Women Voters of Texas published arguments for and arguments against the ballot measure. The following is the argument in opposition:

“

A local government could default on a TWDB loan, thereby costing the state income meant to replenish the FIF. Taxpayers might ultimately be liable for repayment of loans. Historically, state government has not played a heavy role in funding flood-control infrastructure. Flood control is the responsibility of both local and federal governments, rather than state government. Using money from the “rainy day fund” to establish the FIF could be inappropriate because only one-time expenses or funds for disaster response should be removed from the “rainy day fund.” Because the FIF itself is an ongoing project, funds to create it should be taken from general revenue.

”

Campaign finance

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$0.00
Opposition:	$0.00

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Texas ballot measures

There were no ballot measure committees registered in support of the measure or in opposition to the measure.

Media editorials

See also: 2019 ballot measure media endorsements

Support

• Austin American-Statesman: “As Hurricane Harvey and wide-scale flooding events here in Central Texas showed, disasters don’t heed political or geographical boundaries. Their massive destruction cuts far and wide and across city and county limits, showing the critical need to be ready for future damage. Prop 8 is a wise investment. We urge voters to pass it.”
• The Austin Chronicle: “[This] measure would create a Flood Infrastructure Fund along the same lines, with $793 million in rainy day money already included in the 2020-21 budget. This is probably the most sensible of this year's amendments.”
• Corpus Christi Caller-Times: “The state has no mechanism for helping local communities protect themselves against flooding. This would create one. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 served notice of the need. The Houston area got another reminder recently — Harvey-like flooding in a much shorter time.”
• The Dallas Morning News: “No statewide funding mechanism exists to help cities and counties prepare for flooding. Proposition 8 would authorize $793 million from the state's rainy day fund to finance drainage, flood mitigation and flood control projects. The costs of recovering from a major flood are far greater than the dollars required to take preventative steps. This fund would especially help small communities.”
• The Eagle: “Anything we can do to help avoid the damage we saw in recent years in the Houston area is a good thing.”
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Voters should approve a new flood control fund, to be created with money taken from the state’s amply supplied rainy day fund. It will allow for important regional planning of projects.”
• Houston Chronicle: “The flood infrastructure fund would boost efforts to implement flood-mitigation plans. If passed, the Texas Water Development Board would be able to use the money for flood mitigation, drainage or flood-control projects. Houstonians need no convincing about the need for additional resources for flood control and mitigation.”
• Longview News-Journal: “The fund would provide loans to local entities to improve flood control. There is little risk with this program and zero cost unless a government defaults on its loan.”
• San Antonio Express-News: "This could expedite funding for crucial flood control projects."
• Waco Tribune-Herald: “Given that climate-change evidence suggests we’ll see more flooding (whatever the cause), it’s far smarter to make a stab at preventing or reducing flooding than simply assuming steep recovery costs and much heartbreak.”

Opposition

Ballotpedia had not identified media editorial boards in opposition to the ballot measure. If you are aware of a media editorial board position that is not listed below, please email the editorial link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Overview of media editorials

The following table provides an overview of the positions that media editorial boards had taken on the Texas 2019 ballot measures:

Media	Prop. 1	Prop. 2	Prop. 3	Prop. 4	Prop. 5	Prop. 6	Prop. 7	Prop. 8	Prop. 9	Prop. 10
Austin American-Statesman	a	a	a	d	a	a	a	a	a	a
The Austin Chronicle	a	a	d	d	a	tc	a	a	d	a
Corpus Christi Caller-Times	a	a	a	d	a	a	a	a	a	a
The Dallas Morning News	a	a	a	d	d	a	a	a	d	a
The Eagle	a	a	a	d	a	a	a	a	a	a
Fort Worth Star-Telegram	a	a	a	a	a	a	a	a	d	a
Houston Chronicle	d	a	a	d	a	a	a	a	a	a
Longview News-Journal	a	a	a	d	a	a	a	a	a	a
San Antonio Express-News	d	a	a	d	a	a	a	a	a	a
Waco Tribune-Herald	a	a	a	d	a	a	a	a	d	a

Background

Senate Bill 7

Senate Bill 7 (SB 7), signed on June 13, 2019, was implementing legislation for the constitutional amendment. The legislation took effect after voters approved the constitutional amendment. SB 7 allowed the Texas Water Development Board to use the Flood Infrastructure Fund for the following:

• to make a loan at or below market interest rates to a local government for a flood project;
• to make a loan at or below market interest rates for the planning and design costs, permitting costs, and other costs associated with state or federal regulatory activities related to a flood project;
• to make a grant to a local government for a flood project so that the local government can receive matching funds from the federal government;
• to make a grant to a local government for a flood project if the board determines that the local government does not have the ability to repay a loan;
• to pay the principal or interest on bonds issued by the board if the bond's proceeds will be deposited in the Flood Infrastructure Fund;
• to pay expenses considered necessary and reasonable for administering the Flood Infrastructure Fund; and
• to make transfers to the research and planning fund.

Under SB 7, local governments were required to meet the following criteria to receive assistance from the Flood Infrastructure Fund:

• that the local government has acted to cooperate with other local governments to address flood control needs in the area;
• all local governments that would be affected by the project participated in developing the project;
• that the local government held public meetings and accepted comments from interested parties; and
• that the technical requirements for the project have been completed and compared against alternatives.

Referred amendments on the ballot

See also: List of Texas ballot measures

The following statistics are based on ballot measures between 1995 and 2018 in Texas:

• Ballots featured 159 constitutional amendments.
• An average of 13 measures appeared on odd-year statewide ballots.
• The number of ballot measures on odd-year statewide ballots ranged from 7 to 22.
• Voters approved 91 percent (145 of 159) and rejected 9 percent (14 of 159) of the constitutional amendments.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2018
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Odd-year average	Odd-year median	Odd-year minimum	Odd-year maximum
159	145	91.2%	14	8.8%	13.1	12.5	7	22

In 2019, 216 constitutional amendments had been filed in the Texas State Legislature. Legislators were permitted to file constitutional amendments through March 8, 2019, unless permission was given to introduce an amendment after the deadline. Between 2009 and 2017, an average of 187 constitutional amendments were filed during regular legislative sessions. The state legislature approved an average of nine constitutional amendments during regular legislative sessions. Therefore, the average rate of certification during regular legislative sessions was 4.7 percent. In 2019, 10 of the 216 proposed constitutional amendments were certified for the ballot, meaning the rate of certification was 4.6 percent.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Texas Constitution

In Texas, a two-thirds vote is needed in each chamber of the Texas State Legislature to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.

State Representatives Dade Phelan (R-21), Will Metcalf (R-16), Eddie Rodriguez (D-51), Garnet Coleman (D-147), and Ryan Guillen (D-31) were listed as authors of the constitutional amendment, which was introduced into the legislature as House Joint Resolution 4 (HJR 4).

On April 10, 2019, the Texas House of Representatives voted 140-0 to approve HJR 4. At least 100 votes were needed to pass the amendment. On May 22, 2019, the Texas State Senate voted 31-0 to approve HJR 4. At least 21 votes were needed to pass the amendment.

Vote in the Texas House of Representatives April 10, 2019
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 100  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	140	0	10
Total percent	93.33%	0.00%	6.67%
Democrat	65	0	2
Republican	75	0	8

Vote in the Texas State Senate May 22, 2019
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 21  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	31	0	0
Total percent	100.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Democrat	12	0	0
Republican	19	0	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Texas

Poll times

In Texas, all polling places are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time. Texas is divided between the Central and Mountain time zones. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration Texas

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in Texas, an applicant must be a United States citizen, a resident of the county in which he or she is registering, and at least 17 years and 10 months old.

The deadline to register to vote is 30 days before the election. Prospective voters can request a postage-paid voter registration form online or complete the form online and return it to the county voter registrar. Applications are also available at a variety of locations including the county voter registrar’s office, the secretary of state’s office, libraries, and high schools. Voter registration certificates are mailed to newly registered voters.

Automatic registration

Texas does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Texas does not permit online voter registration.

Same-day registration

Texas does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

Prospective voters must reside in the county in which they are registering to vote.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Texas does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.

State law requires election officials to conduct a check of registered voters' citizenship status. Section 18.068 of the Texas Election Code says the following:

“	The secretary of state shall quarterly compare the information received under Section 16.001 of this code and Section 62.113, Government Code, to the statewide computerized voter registration list. If the secretary determines that a voter on the registration list is deceased or has been excused or disqualified from jury service because the voter is not a citizen, the secretary shall send notice of the determination to the voter registrar of the counties considered appropriate by the secretary.	”
—Section 18.068, Texas Election Code

In January 2019, the Texas secretary of state’s office announced that it would be providing local election officials with a list of registered voters who obtained driver’s licenses or IDs with documentation such as work visas or green cards. Counties would then be able to require voters on the list to provide proof of citizenship within 30 days. The review was halted by a federal judge in February 2019, and Secretary of State David Whitley rescinded the advisory in April. A news release from Whitley’s office stated that “... going forward, the Texas Secretary of State's office will send to county voter registrars only the matching records of individuals who registered to vote before identifying themselves as non-U.S. citizens to DPS when applying for a driver's license or personal identification card. This will ensure that naturalized U.S. citizens who lawfully registered to vote are not impacted by this voter registration list maintenance process.”

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. As of January 2025, six states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, and New Hampshire — had passed laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration. However, only two of those states' laws were in effect, in Arizona and New Hampshire. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allowed noncitizens to vote in some local elections as of November 2024. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The Texas Secretary of State’s office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.

Voter ID requirements

Texas requires voters to present photo identification while voting.

The following list of accepted ID was current as of February 2023. Click here for the Texas Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

• Texas driver’s license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
• Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
• Texas handgun license issued by DPS
• United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
• United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
• United States passport (book or card)

Identification provided by voters aged 18-69 may be expired for no more than four years before the election date. Voters aged 70 and older can use an expired ID card regardless of how long ago the ID expired.

Voters who are unable to provide one of the ID options listed above can sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and provide one of the following supporting documents:

• Copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate
• Copy of or original current utility bill
• Copy of or original bank statement
• Copy of or original government check
• Copy of or original paycheck
• Copy of or original of (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document)

The following voters are exempt from showing photo ID:

• Voters with a disability
  • Voters with a disability "may apply with the county voter registrar for a permanent exemption to presenting an acceptable photo identification or following the Reasonable Impediment Declaration procedure in the county."
• Voters who have a religious objection to being photographed

Voters who do not have a photo ID can obtain a Texas Election Identification Certificate (EIC) at any Texas driver’s license office during regular business hours. Voters can also obtain an Election Identification Certificate from a mobile station. Locations are listed here.

See also

2019 measures

• 2019 ballot measures
• Budgets on the ballot
• Water on the ballot

Texas

• Texas ballot measures
• Texas ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• House Joint Resolution 4 (2019)