Proposition 3
“The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual wealth or net worth tax, including a tax on the difference between the assets and liabilities of an individual or family.”
If voters approve this proposition, it would ban an individual wealth tax in Texas.
SUPPORTING VIEWPOINT
Andrew McVeigh
Executive Producer
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
Q: Why should the average Texan care about this proposition?
A: The Texas Constitution governs in many ways of how we live our lives in the state. The Wealth Tax, Proposition 3, is a preventative measure to prohibit a wealth tax in the future, whether that’s for individuals or families, this is similar to the prohibition that the state passed recently prohibiting a future income tax.
Q: Why does your organization support it?
A: We believe that Texans are already taxed too much and the overall burden is already too high. We would support prohibiting any future taxes being opposed on Texans.
– Interview conducted by Samuel Rocha.
OPPOSING VIEWPOINT
Alejandro Peña
Government Relations Specialist & Policy Analyst
Texas American Federation of Teachers
Q: Why should the average Texan care about this proposition?
A: We think the average Texan expects the state to fully fund our public schools, for example, to provide for some basic level of healthcare to fund some kind of safety net. I think some people are growing in awareness of the state fully failing to fund its responsibilities, especially regarding public education — which is the area that the organization that I work for is involved in. As you probably know, Texas doesn’t have a wealth tax on the books right now and I’m not aware of one that’s been filed before. And though this amendment isn’t needed at this time, it’s just taking a tool off the table for future Texas legislators to consider.
Q: Why does your organization (and you) oppose Proposition 3?
A: We don’t think that this tool should be taken off the table. Because public education is not fully funded, for example, one of the examples where the state is not fulfilling its responsibilities; we would support a discussion about a wealth tax being passed in Texas. So from our perspective as long as the state’s not meeting its responsibilities, there should be all tools left on the table.
It’s a really interesting issue, I understand the arguments against it. Texas could still pass a wealth tax if they were to put it to the voters again and change the constitution again. If you look at the wealth taxes that have been designed in other states and the impact that would have, the amount of revenue it would raise, and the impact it would have on households from different income levels, we could design one for Texas that wouldn’t have a tremendous impact on that many people and could generate some badly needed revenue for our schools. We’re 43rd in per-student spending on public education in the country, and Texas teachers make more than $7,500 less than the national average so we thought an income tax, which Texas probably needs to fund public education and its other responsibilities. We’re just opposed to any option which will contribute to increasing resource scarcity here.
– This Q&A was edited and condensed. Interview conducted by Angelina Cuevas, Alizaha Gonzales and Kat Kotchey
