Save Texas State Parks – Support Proposition 5

Vote FOR Proposition 5 in the Texas Statewide Constitutional Amendment Election November 5, 2019. Early voting has already begun! Don’t worry, this will not raise any new taxes!

In February 2012, I posted this article to TexasGOPVote: Help SAVE Texas State Parks! Donate Now or Visit a Park Soon (Amazing Pictures Attached).

Back seven years ago when I wrote that article, Texas Parks were on the edge of collapse with extreme budget shortfalls and failing infrastructure due to repeated natural disasters. I simply asked for fellow Texans to voluntarily donate money or visit Texas state parks and historical sites in order to help promote and preserve the amazing beauty of the great state of Texas. Loving the beauty of Texas and wanting to voluntarily preserve and conserve these special places in Texas is an idea that crosses political boundaries from Republican to Democrat.

Little did I know when I wrote that article in 2012 that Texas already had the money needed to save Texas state parks. Texas already had a constant revenue source from sporting goods sales tax. The Texas sporting goods sales tax is a tax that we already all pay, and it is a tax that was created with the intent for it to go to Texas State Parks and historical sites. Unfortunately, the Texas Legislature raided that fund year after year, taking millions of dollars intended for state parks and spending the money on other things that were not even related to state parks and historical sites.

Apparently, if you passed a tax and said the money was for state parks, it was perfectly legal for that state park tax money to be raided and used for other things. Last time I checked, if a regular person were to, for instance, set up a Go Fund Me account for something like cancer research, but then use the money for something like buying fancy jewelry, that would be considered fraud and someone would probably be arrested. It isn’t fraud and theft if the government does it though I suppose.

So that brings us to the 2019 Texas Constitutional Amendment Proposition 5. There is hope in politics and government eventually taking a stand for what is right. After years of budget shortfalls and failing infrastructure of our amazing state parks and historical sites, many good men and women legislators on both sides of the aisle came together and have voted to allow us Texans to put an end to the constant raiding of the Texas state parks revenue generated by the sporting goods tax.

A vote FOR Proposition 5 will NOT raise any new taxes or fees. A vote FOR Proposition 5 will simply force the state government to stop raiding the sporting goods tax fund. A vote FOR Proposition 5 will force the Texas sporting goods sales tax to only be spent on Texas state parks and historical sites, which is what the tax was always intended to be spent on in the first place.

Have you been to a Texas State Park or Historic Site? If you have not, there is probably a park close to you that you didn’t even know about. You should know about them though. Texas parks are amazing. Click here to see many amazing pictures of different state parks in Texas, and click here for an interactive map to see where all of the state parks in Texas are.

The Texas Coalition for State Parks did a fantastic job pushing and promoting this Proposition 5 Constitutional Amendment. More information about them and Proposition 5 can be found on their website at www.SupportTexasParks.org