By: Middleton S.J.R. No. 63
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment regarding the terminology
used in the Texas Constitution to refer to the partially landlocked
body of water on the southeastern periphery of the North American
continent.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 33, Article I, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 33. PUBLIC ACCESS TO AND USE OF PUBLIC BEACHES. (a) In
this section, "public beach" means a state-owned beach bordering on
the seaward shore of the Gulf of America [Gulf of Mexico], extending
from mean low tide to the landward boundary of state-owned
submerged land, and any larger area extending from the line of mean
low tide to the line of vegetation bordering on the Gulf of America
[Gulf of Mexico] to which the public has acquired a right of use or
easement to or over the area by prescription or dedication or has
established and retained a right by virtue of continuous right in
the public under Texas common law.
SECTION 2. Section 1-i, Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1-i. MOBILE MARINE DRILLING EQUIPMENT; AD VALOREM TAX
RELIEF. The legislature by general law may provide ad valorem tax
relief for mobile marine drilling equipment designed for offshore
drilling of oil or gas wells that is being stored while not in use in
a county bordering on the Gulf of America [Gulf of Mexico] or on a
bay or other body of water immediately adjacent to the Gulf of
America [Gulf of Mexico].
SECTION 3. Section 1-A, Article IX, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1-A. AUTHORITY OF COASTAL COUNTIES TO REGULATE MOTOR
VEHICLES AND LITTERING ON BEACHES. The Legislature may authorize
the governing body of any county bordering on the Gulf of America
[Gulf of Mexico] or the tidewater limits thereof to regulate and
restrict the speed, parking and travel of motor vehicles on beaches
available to the public by virtue of public right and the littering
of such beaches.
Nothing in this amendment shall increase the rights of any
riparian or littoral landowner with regard to beaches available to
the public by virtue of public right or submerged lands.
The Legislature may enact any laws not inconsistent with this
Section which it may deem necessary to permit said counties to
implement, enforce and administer the provisions contained herein.
Should the Legislature enact legislation in anticipation of the
adoption of this amendment, such legislation shall not be invalid
by reason of its anticipatory character.
SECTION 4. Section 7, Article XI, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7. COUNTIES AND CITIES ON GULF OF AMERICA [GULF OF
MEXICO]; TAX FOR SEA WALLS, BREAKWATERS, AND SANITATION; BONDS;
CONDEMNATION OF RIGHT OF WAY. (a) All counties and cities
bordering on the coast of the Gulf of America [Gulf of Mexico] are
hereby authorized upon a vote of the majority of the qualified
voters voting thereon at an election called for such purpose to levy
and collect such tax for construction of sea walls, breakwaters, or
sanitary purposes, as may now or may hereafter be authorized by law,
and may create a debt for such works and issue bonds in evidence
thereof. But no debt for any purpose shall ever be incurred in any
manner by any city or county unless provision is made, at the time
of creating the same, for levying and collecting a sufficient tax to
pay the interest thereon and provide at least two per cent (2%) as a
sinking fund, except as provided by Subsection (b); and the
condemnation of the right of way for the erection of such works
shall be fully provided for.
SECTION 5. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held on November 4,
2025. The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or
against the proposition: "The constitutional amendment
redesignating references in the Texas Constitution to the partially
landlocked body of water on the southeastern periphery of the North
American continent, commonly known as the "Gulf of Mexico", to the
"Gulf of America."