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Background: Texas Veterans Land Board provides low-interest loans to Texas veterans for buying and improving homes and for purchasing land. The board issues bonds to raise the money needed to fund these loans. As veterans pay back the loans, the board is able to pay back the bonds.

Proposition 6 would authorize the board to issue new bonds, without needing new approval, to replace any bonds that have been issued earlier and then paid back.

The board would be limited to the total amount that voters have authorized under previous constitutional amendments and that has been approved by the Legislature. The amendment would eliminate the current $500 million cap on total bonds that the board may have outstanding at any one time.

For: Proposition 6 would allow the Veterans’ Land Board to continue its housing assistance program without an interruption. Voters have approved $4 billion in these types of bonds in the past, of which about $2 billion has already been paid back. Since voters already approved the entire $4 billion in borrowing, the board should be able to reissue the bonds that have been paid back, so that the board can continue to make new loans.

Against: Voters should have the ability to approve bonding authority every time it is needed. This proposed amendment will reduce the board’s accountability to the voters. Voters did not vote for perpetual borrowing when they authorized the first set of bonds. There is no reason why the board should not be expected to come back to the voters for approval of these large amounts of borrowing.

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