Question: What kind of constitution requires a constitutional amendment, rather than a vote of the Legislature, to decide maximum interest rates for commercial loans?
Answer: One that needs changing.
If that idea didn’t occur to you as you looked at Proposition 5 on the statewide ballot, it should have.
Every blue moon, some Texans organize an effort to draft a new constitution.
That effort usually dies in a chorus of, “If it was good enough for granddaddy, it’s good enough for me.”
People rightly revere the U.S. Constitution. By comparison, the Texas Constitution is a chocolate mess.
After more than 200 years, the U.S. Constitution has required 27 amendments.
Since 1879, the Texas Constitution has been amended 432 times. The number of proposed amendments tops 600.
The U.S. Constitution elegantly outlines the mission of government and defines its structure.
The Texas Constitution is filled with minutia about extra compensation for municipal corporations and development bonds for parks.
When the U.S. Constitution must be amended, the amendments generally define broad rights. The amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms.
When the Texas Constitution must be amended, it’s a bit different.
On Tuesday, for example, voters considered Proposition 9: “The constitutional amendment providing for the clearing of land titles by relinquishing and releasing any state claim to sovereign ownership of title to the interest in certain land in Upshur County and Smith County.”
Does that sound like a question that ought to be posed to every voter in the state?
A little more than 30 years ago, a group of public-spirited Texans led an effort to draft a new constitution.
