1-1     By:  Harris                                           S.J.R. No. 22
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 12, 1999; February 15, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     March 15, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 15, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Brown
 1-7     Amend S.J.R. No. 22 as follows:
 1-8           (1)  On SECTION 1, line 25, after the word "home," add the
 1-9     following:  "or as both an urban home and a place to exercise a
1-10     [the] calling or business."
1-11                           SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
1-12     proposing a constitutional amendment increasing the maximum size of
1-13     an urban homestead to 10 acres, prescribing permissible uses of
1-14     urban homesteads, and preventing the overburdening of a homestead.
1-15           BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-16           SECTION 1.  Section 51, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, is
1-17     amended to read as follows:
1-18           Sec. 51.  The homestead, not in a town or city, shall consist
1-19     of not more than two hundred acres of land, which may be in one or
1-20     more parcels, with the improvements thereon; the homestead in a
1-21     city, town or village, shall consist of lot or contiguous lots
1-22     amounting to not more than 10 acres [one acre] of land, together
1-23     with any improvements on the land; provided, that the homestead in
1-24     a city, town or village [same] shall be used for the purposes of a
1-25     home[, or as a place to exercise the calling or business] of the
1-26     homestead claimant, whether a single adult person, or the head of a
1-27     family; provided also, that any temporary renting of the homestead
1-28     shall not change the character of the same, when no other homestead
1-29     has been acquired; provided further that a release or refinance of
1-30     an existing lien against a homestead as to a part of the homestead
1-31     does not create an additional burden on the part of the homestead
1-32     property that is unreleased or subject to the refinance, and a new
1-33     lien is not invalid only for that reason.
1-34           SECTION 2.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
1-35     submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 2, 1999.
1-36     The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against
1-37     the proposition:  "The constitutional amendment increasing the
1-38     maximum size of an urban homestead to 10 acres, prescribing
1-39     permissible uses of urban homesteads, and preventing the
1-40     overburdening of a homestead."
1-41                                  * * * * *