I Voted Today, Did You?
I am happy to say that I got out and voted today in the Joint General & Special Elections. Not only that but I got at least a few others out to vote as well.
One of the propositions, Proposition 15, would require that the legislature establish the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and authorize up to $3 billion in bonds. Deciding how to vote on Proposition 15 was difficult. There were some big hitters, like Lance Armstrong and the Komen Foundation, urging us to vote yes. Cancer is the number two killer of Texans and cancer costs Texans over $4 billion dollars every year. Being a cancer survivor myself made the decision very personal. In the end however, I voted against it. While cancer research is an excellent cause I feel that funding the research with General Obligation Bonds is a bad decision that would cost us half again as much in interest. In addition, since cancer research benefits everyone, I believe it should be funded by the federal government.
Prior to voting I had no idea what General Obligation (GO) Bonds were, but I’m learning. GO Bonds are a means of using the
state’s credit to borrow money for certain purposes. The state pledges its “full faith and credit” to guarantee that the bond principal and interest will be repaid. The Texas Constitution does not allow local governments to issue unlimited-tax general obligation debt without a public vote. Hence the proposition. On the good side, GO Bonds can be secured at a more favorable interest rate than other types of loans. On the bad side, these bonds are repaid by the first dollars that go into the treasury each year. If all of the current GO Bond propositions were approved and issued our current bond debt would more than double.
On a somewhat amusing note, after having researched all the propositions, I completely forgot that there was one specific to my little city and when it came up at the end I wasn’t sure which way to vote. Since the request was for school funding I went ahead and voted for it figuring that Texas education needs all the help it can get. I hope if it passes that our city uses the money wisely.
voting, Texas, Proposition 15, GO Bonds, General Obligation Bonds, I voted, Texas Constitution, cancer research
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