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 * * * * *