Texas Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Texas.
The current document took effect on February 15, 1876, and is the seventh constitution in Texas history. The previous six were the constitution of Coahuila y Tejas, the 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas and the state constitutions of 1845, 1861, 1866, and 1869.
The current constitution is among the longest of state constitutions in the United States; since its initial adoption, as of November 2011 a total of 653 amendments have been proposed, of which 474 were approved by voters and 179 were rejected.
Most of the amendments are due to the document's highly restrictive nature – the Texas Constitution states that the State of Texas has only those powers explicitly granted to it; there is no state equivalent of the federal constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause contained within. Thus, the Texas Constitution functions as a limiting document, while the federal constitution is a granting document. However, despite its length, it is not nearly as long as the Alabama Constitution (which has been amended over 800 times despite having been adopted 25 years after Texas' current constitution) nor the California Constitution (which, due to provisions allowing amendments via the initiative, is subject to frequent revision).
Read more about Texas Constitution: Attempts At Revision
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