Texas Proposition 5, Definition of Professional Sports Team in Charitable Raffles Amendment (2017)

Texas Proposition 5

Election date
November 7, 2017
Topic
Gambling and Athletics
Status
a Approved
Type
Constitutional amendment| Origin
State legislature

* * *

2017 measures

November 7, 2017
Texas Proposition 7
Texas Proposition 4
Texas Proposition 6
Texas Proposition 3
Texas Proposition 5
Texas Proposition 1
Texas Proposition 2

Texas Proposition 5, the Definition of Professional Sports Team in Charitable Raffles Amendment, was on the ballot in Texas as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 7, 2017. It was approved.[1]

| A "yes" vote supported this amendment to expand the definition of professional sports team for the purpose of deciding which charitable foundations are allowed to hold raffles.

|

| A "no" vote opposed this amendment to expand the definition of professional sports team for the purpose of deciding which charitable foundations are allowed to hold raffles.

|

## Contents

* 1 Election results
* 2 Overview
* 2.1 Context of HJR 100
* 2.2 Amendment design
* 3 Text of measure
* 3.1 Ballot title
* 3.2 Constitutional changes
* 3.3 Readability score
* 4 House Bill 3125
* 5 Support
* 5.1 Arguments
* 6 Opposition
* 6.1 Arguments
* 7 Campaign finance
* 8 Media editorials
* 8.1 Support
* 8.2 Opposition
* 9 Background
* 9.1 Proposition 4
* 9.2 Referred amendments on the ballot
* 10 Path to the ballot
* 11 State profile
* 11.1 Presidential voting pattern
* 11.1.1 Pivot Counties (2016)
* 11.1.2 Pivot Counties (2020)
* 12 See also
* 13 External links
* 14 Recent news
* 15 Footnotes

## Election results[edit]

Proposition 5

Result| Votes| Percentage
a Yes|  510,363|  60.33%
No| 335,582| 39.67%

Election results from Texas Elections Office

## Overview[edit]

### Context of HJR 100[edit]

In 2015, voters passed Proposition 4, which authorized professional sports team charitable foundations in existence on January 1, 2016, to operate charitable raffles. Proposition 5 of 2017 removed this requirement that foundations had been in existence in 2016. Proposition 4 defined professional sports teams as major league sports teams. Proposition 5 expanded the definition of professional sports team to include certain minor league sports teams, motorsports racing teams, Professional Golf Association events, and other teams as defined by law.[1][2]

### Amendment design[edit]

Proposition 5 defines the following as a professional sports team:[1]

* a team organized in Texas that is a member of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Soccer, the American Hockey League, the East Coast Hockey League, the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Minor League Baseball, the National Basketball Association Development League, the National Women ’s Soccer League, the Major Arena Soccer League, the United Soccer League, or the Women ’s National Basketball Association;
* a person hosting a motorsports racing team event sanctioned by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), INDYCar, or another nationally-recognized motorsports racing association at a venue with seating for 75,000 or more;
* an organization hosting a Professional Golf Association event; or
* any other professional sports team defined by law.

The implementing legislation for Proposition 5 would also allow people who purchase raffle tickets to use their debit cards to pay for the tickets, rather than just U.S. paper and coin money.[3]

## Text of measure[edit]

### Ballot title[edit]

The ballot title was as follows:[1]

“  | The constitutional amendment on professional sports team charitable foundations conducting charitable raffles.[4] | ”

|
|

### Constitutional changes[edit]

See also: Article 3, Texas Constitution

The measure amended Subsection (d-1) of Section 47 of Article III of the Texas Constitution. The following underlined text was added, and ~~struck-through~~ text was deleted:[1] Note: Use your mouse to scroll over the below text to see the full text.

(d-1) The legislature by general law may permit a professional sports team charitable foundation to conduct charitable raffles under the terms and conditions imposed by general law. The law may authorize the charitable foundation to pay with the raffle proceeds reasonable advertising, promotional, and administrative expenses. A law enacted under this subsection applies ~~may apply~~ only to an entity ~~that is~~ defined as a professional sports team charitable foundation under that law ~~on January 1, 2016,~~ and may only allow charitable raffles to be conducted at games hosted at the home venue of the professional sports team associated with a professional sports team charitable foundation. In this subsection, "professional sports team" means:

(1) a team organized in this state that is a member of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Soccer, the American Hockey League, the East Coast Hockey League, the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Minor League Baseball, the National Basketball Association Development League, the National Women ’s Soccer League, the Major Arena Soccer League, the United Soccer League, or the Women’s National Basketball Association;
(2) a person hosting a motorsports racing team event sanctioned by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), INDYCar, or another nationally recognized motorsports racing association at a venue in this state with a permanent seating capacity of not less than 75,000;
(3) an organization hosting a Professional Golf Association event; or
(4) any other professional sports team defined by law.[4]

|

### Readability score[edit]

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2017
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Texas State Legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 21.5, and the FRE is -38. The word count for the ballot title is 12, and the estimated reading time is 3 seconds.

## House Bill 3125[edit]

The implementing legislation for HJR 100 was House Bill 3125 (HB 3125).[5] An implementing bill, such as HB 3125, provides additional details of how a constitutional amendment will operate. HB 3125 went into effect upon voter approval of this amendment. If voters had rejected this amendment, HB 3125 would not have gone into effect.[3]

On May 6, 2017, the Texas House of Representatives passed HB 3125 in a vote of 144 to 0 with six members not voting. On May 22, 2017, the Texas Senate passed the bill 24 to 6 with one senators not voting.[5]

HB 3125 would allow people who purchase raffle tickets from professional sports team charitable foundations to use their debit cards to pay for the tickets, rather than just U.S. paper and coin money.[3]

## Support[edit]

### Arguments[edit]

The Texas House Research Organization (HRO) provided arguments supporting and arguments opposing the amendment. The following was the HRO's supporting arguments:[6]

“  |

HJR 100, along with its enabling legislation, HB 3125 by Kuempel, would expand the number of professional sports team charitable foundations eligible to hold charitable raffles at home sports games. The joint resolution would allow teams to capitalize on the large and supportive crowds at sporting events to increase the amount of charitable funds available to support their charitable programs. Current charitable raffles have been successful in raising large amounts of money for charity with no abuse of the process.

The joint resolution and HB 3125 would work together to permit the charitable foundations of more professional leagues and their teams to hold charitable raffles for cash prizes at each of their team's home games. HJR 100 would add sports teams representing more rural and suburban communities, bringing charitable revenue to new and different parts of the state and uniting sports teams and their communities to assist disadvantaged Texans. HB 3125 would expand the definition of "professional sports team" to include additional leagues. Charitable raffles help a team link its fans to community programs supported by its foundation and help raise public awareness of charitable activities in the area.

HJR 100 only would expand the number of sports teams that could participate in charitable raffles — it would make no other change and would not remove safeguards that were established to protect against improperly conducted raffles. The protections that are in place, such as requirements that the foundation be associated with a professional sports team with a home venue in Texas and that it qualify as a charitable organization under federal law, have been successful. Since the law took effect in 2016, no proliferation of profit-making gambling activities has resulted.[4]

| ”

|
|

## Opposition[edit]

### Arguments[edit]

The Texas House Research Organization (HRO) provided arguments supporting and arguments opposing the amendment. The following was the HRO's opposing arguments:[6]

“  | The current constitutional authorization appropriately applies only to the 10 Texas major league sports franchises that had charitable foundations on January 1, 2016. This limitation in Art. 3, sec. 47(d-1) was established to protect against the creation of entities solely to take advantage of charitable raffles. HJR 100, along with its enabling legislation, could open the door to further expansion of charitable raffles conducted by the foundations of less well established teams, an idea that was rejected last session when the Legislature was unambiguous in its choice of teams allowed to hold charitable raffles.

The state should be cautious about expanding the number of participants allowed to conduct charitable raffles. HJR 100 would expand gambling in Texas by increasing the number of such raffles that sports team foundations could conduct, which could prompt other groups to request expanded authority to offer such raffles.[4]

| ”

|
|

## Campaign finance[edit]

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Texas ballot measures
Total campaign contributions:

Support: | $0.00
Opposition: | $0.00

No ballot measure committees registered to support or oppose the constitutional amendment.[7]

## Media editorials[edit]

See also: 2017 ballot measure media endorsements

### Support[edit]

* The Dallas Morning News said: "Our state's gambling rules — at least in the name of a good cause — already contain exceptions for the lottery and bingo nights, etc. This should have little impact on the vast majority of Texans, but it could bring needed help to more charities, including those in rural and suburban areas."[8]

* The San Antonio Express-News said: "Proposition 5 would expand the use of raffles for professional sports team charitable foundations. We urge a yes vote. [...] Besides, there have been no abuses of the practice, and Proposition 5 isn’t removing any safeguards. This isn’t gambling for a profit. It’s just a fun way to raise money for causes important to Texas communities."[9]

### Opposition[edit]

* The Austin Chronicle said: "Currently, 10 major state sports franchises’ foundations are allowed to sponsor “charitable raffles.” This amendment would open the door to more major and minor sports franchises and their “foundations” – with the likely result of both cheesier and potentially more fraudulent exercises in “charity.” The slope has been made quite slippery enough."[10]

## Background[edit]

### Proposition 4[edit]

See also: Texas Sports Team Charitable Foundation Raffles Amendment, Proposition 4 (2015)

In 2015, voters approved Proposition 4, with 69 percent voting yes and 31 percent voting no. Proposition 4 authorized professional sports team charitable foundations in existence on January 1, 2016, to operate charitable raffles.

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The measure applied to the teams in the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League. The measure was designed to allow raffles at home games of the sports teams associated with the foundations.[2]

Proposition 4 defined a professional sports team charitable foundation as an organization that (a) “holds a certificate of formation under the Business Organizations Code or is otherwise incorporated under the laws of this state;” (b) “is associated with a professional sports team; and” (c) "is formed for charitable purposes."

The enabling legislation for Proposition 4 also provided the rules governing raffles and ticket sales, prescribed rules regarding the operating expenses of raffles, and established criminal penalties for certain actions.

Before the passage of Proposition 4 in 2015, only qualified nonprofit organizations were allowed to hold raffles. Voters approved Proposition 15 in 1989 to allow nonprofit organizations to hold raffles.

### Referred amendments on the ballot[edit]

From 1995 through 2015, the state legislature referred 152 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 138 and rejected 14 of the referred amendments. Most of the amendments (136 of 152) were referred to the ballot for elections during odd-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on an odd-year ballot was between 13 and 14. The approval rate at the ballot box was 90.8 percent during the 20-year period from 1995 through 2015. The rejection rate was 9.2 percent. In 2015, there were seven referred amendments on the ballot, the lowest number for an odd-year ballot between 1995 and 2015.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2015

Total number | Approved | Percent approved | Defeated | Percent defeated | Odd-year average | Odd-year median | Odd-year minimum | Odd-year maximum
152 | 138 | 90.79% | 14 | 9.21% | 13.6 | 14.0 | 7 | 22

## Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Amending the Texas Constitution

In Texas, a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Texas State Legislature during one legislative session is required to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot. Texas is one of 16 states that require a two-thirds supermajority vote in both chambers.

Rep. John Kuempel (R-44) and Rep. Roland Gutierrez (D-119) filed the amendment in the state legislature as House Joint Resolution 100 on March 7, 2017. The Texas House of Representatives approved the amendment 110 to 12 with 28 members not voting on May 5, 2017. The Texas Senate approved the amendment 24 to 6 with one member absent on May 22, 2017. The amendment was filed with the secretary of state on May 30, 2017.[11]

| Vote in the Texas Senate
May 22, 2017

Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 21 a
| Yes| No| Not voting
Total| 24| 6| 1
Total percent| 77.41%| 19.36%| 3.23%
Democrat| 10| 0| 1
Republican| 14| 6| 0

| Vote in the Texas House of Representatives
May 7, 2017

Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 100 a
| Yes| No| Not voting
Total| 110| 12| 28
Total percent| 73.33%| 8.00%| 18.67%
Democrat| 45| 0| 10
Republican| 65| 12| 18

## State profile[edit]

Demographic data for Texas

| Texas| U.S.
Total population:| 27,429,639| 316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):| 261,232| 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:| 74.9%| 73.6%
Black/African American:| 11.9%| 12.6%
Asian:| 4.2%| 5.1%
Native American:| 0.5%| 0.8%
Pacific Islander:| 0.1%| 0.2%
Two or more:| 2.5%| 3%
Hispanic/Latino:| 38.4%| 17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:| 81.9%| 86.7%
College graduation rate:| 27.6%| 29.8%
Income
Median household income:| $53,207| $53,889
Persons below poverty level:| 19.9%| 11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas.

* * *

**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

### Presidential voting pattern[edit]

See also: Presidential voting trends in Texas

Texas voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

#### Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Texas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[12]

#### Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Texas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Texas coverage on Ballotpedia

* Elections in Texas
* United States congressional delegations from Texas
* Public policy in Texas
* Influencers in Texas
* Texas fact checks
* More...

## See also[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Texas 2017 ballot measures
* 2017 ballot measures
* Texas Legislature
* Gambling on the ballot
* Athletics on the ballot

## External links[edit]

* House Joint Resolution 100 (Engrossed in House)

## Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Texas 2017 Professional Sports Team Charitable Raffle Amendment. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Texas Proposition 5, Definition of Professional Sports Team in Charitable Raffles Amendment (2017) - Google News

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Texas Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 100," accessed May 7, 2017
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Texas Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 73," accessed January 29, 2015
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Texas Legislature, "House Bill 3125," accessed May 23, 2017
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Texas Legislature, "HB 3125 Overview," accessed May 24, 2017
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Texas Legislature, "House Research Organization HJR 100 Analysis," May 5, 2017
7. ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Reports Search & Lists," accessed April 28, 2022
8. ↑ The Dallas Morning News, "We recommend a 'yes' vote on statewide Propositions 4, 5, 6 and 7," October 19, 2017
9. ↑ San Antonio Express-News, "Yes on Proposition 5, charitable raffles," October 27, 2017
10. ↑ "The Austin Chronicle, "Our endorsements on local bond packages and state constitutional amendments," October 20, 2017
11. ↑ Texas Legislature, "HJR 100 Overview," accessed May 7, 2017
12. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

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