Presidential elections get a lot of attention. Attention starts dropping off for midterm elections. But off-year elections? Voters might not even know about them.
This year, on Nov. 4, citizens in at least 22 states will get to vote on a variety of state- and local-level positions and issues. Most ballot items deal with local nitty-gritty issues like school board members, bonds and city council representatives, but some will feature state-level issues as well.
Colorado and Texas in particular have four ballot measures that deal with food access and ag-adjacent concerns.
Colorado’s Food-Funding Props LL and MM
Every Colorado voter will be asked two statewide ballot issues: Propositions LL and MM. Both deal with food funding via tax changes, though neither create new taxes.
Prop LL asks voters if the state can keep the $12.43 million excess tax money it collected from high-income taxpayers following the creation of the state’s universal free Healthy School Meals for All program in 2022. The money would fund the program and, eventually, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the state. According to Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, any tax revenue collected in excess of estimates proposed to voters must be returned unless citizens vote to let the state keep it.
Prop MM would reduce the tax deduction levels for the same high-income Colorado taxpayers who paid excess taxes for the HSMA program. Currently, the itemized or standard tax deductions are $12,000 for single filers and $16,000 for joint filers. The measure proposes to reduce these levels to $1,000 and $2,000 respectively. The additional revenue generated from this would also go to fund the HSMA program and SNAP. If passed by voters, the state estimates that up to $95 million could be generated by the measure.
The HSMA program provides universal free breakfasts and lunches to all Colorado public school students rather than just those students who qualify based on economic need. Eligibility for free or reduced-cost school meals for students are often tied to household eligibility for support programs, such as SNAP, WIC and Medicare. The passage of the Federal Budget Reconciliation tightened eligibility standards for such programs across the country. Nonprofit group Illuminate Colorado estimates that almost 300,000 Colorado families will lose some or all of their SNAP benefits as a result.
Every registered Colorado voter should have received a ballot by mail. Ballots must be dropped off at designated drop boxes or at polling places by 7 p.m. on Nov. 4. Voters who opt to vote in-person can do so, but they must return their unused mailed ballots. For more information, visit the Colorado secretary of state’s voter information page.
Propping Up Water Funds With Texas’ Prop 4
Proposition 4 asks Texas voters to amend the state’s constitution to get more dedicated funding for water infrastructure in the state. Water in the arid state is already a pressing agricultural issue, particularly since the state largely depends on increasingly late, short and unreliable water deliveries from Mexico. But the state’s population is also growing rapidly, according to the Texas Water Development Board, and there is already a massive funding shortfall for the state’s water infrastructure needs.
Rather than create a new tax, the amendment would earmark up to $1 billion per year of the state’s existing sales and use tax revenue for the Texas Water Fund for 20 years, starting September 2027. The Texas Water fund would get the first $1 billion in sales and use tax revenue after $46.5 billion was collected each fiscal year. According to the Texas comptroller, the state brought in $47.2 billion in sales and use tax revenue in 2024.
The Texas Water Fund was established in 2023 is administered by the TWDB, which has the mission to “ensure a secure water future for Texas.” The fund’s money can be used for water infrastructure efforts, including reservoir-building efforts, as well as funding other water-related programs TWDB already oversees.
Taking Off Texas Taxes on Animal Feed
Texans will also be asked to weigh in on Proposition 5. This is another proposed amendment to the state’s constitution that would exempt animal feed held on a property for retail sale from property taxes.
The amendment was authored by Texas state Rep. Cody Harris, R-District 8. In his analysis document, Harris notes that “animal feed is typically exempt from taxation at each location or transaction during its life cycle,” except for when it is inventory and the amendment “seeks to address this inconsistency.”
Texas voters can vote early through Oct. 31 or vote on Election Day, Nov. 4. Texas voters can find their polling places as well as Election Day information here.
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