Gov. Greg Abbott is using Texas Democrat Gina Hinojosa’s 2019 vote to argue she is open to a state income tax. But the vote alone does not show that she wants to impose one: the measure at issue, H.J.R. 38, would have made an individual income tax harder to enact, and the Houston Chronicle reports that Hinojosa opposed it. She says, “I oppose one.”
What Abbott is arguing—and what the vote records
In an October 10, 2026 report, Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace said Abbott had spent weeks using press releases, fundraising emails and digital ads to connect Hinojosa’s 2019 vote with the possibility of a state income tax. Hinojosa disputes that interpretation and, in a campaign ad described in the report, says, “I oppose one.”
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The reported roll-call context matters: Hinojosa and most Democrats in the Texas House opposed H.J.R. 38. The proposal would have added a constitutional prohibition on the legislature imposing a tax on individual net income. A vote against that restriction is the recorded action; it is not, by itself, proof of a plan or desire to impose an income tax.
What Texas law says now
Texas’s rules changed in stages. The Texas Legislative Council’s official amendment history records that voters adopted the 1993 amendment by 69.3%. It required voter approval before a law imposing a personal income tax could take effect and directed proceeds to school property-tax relief and public education.
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Voters adopted H.J.R. 38 in 2019 by 74.4%, according to the same history. The resulting Article VIII, Section 24-a prohibits the legislature from imposing a tax on the net income of individuals. The Senate Research Center’s analysis said changing that rule would require another constitutional amendment, which must pass each chamber by a two-thirds vote and then be ratified by voters.
The distinction is consequential: the 1993 provision made voter approval a condition for an income-tax law to take effect; the 2019 provision bars the legislature from imposing an individual net-income tax under the current constitutional text. The Senate Research Center’s 2019 analysis made the point directly: “Contrary to popular belief, the Texas Constitution does not currently bar the state from imposing and collecting a state income tax.” H.J.R. 38 was designed to add that prohibition.
How to assess the competing claims
| Question | What the available record establishes |
|---|---|
| What does Abbott cite? | Hinojosa’s 2019 vote on H.J.R. 38, which proposed making an individual income tax harder to enact. |
| What does the report say she did? | She opposed H.J.R. 38, as did most Democrats in the Texas House. |
| What does Hinojosa say about an income tax? | In the campaign ad described by the Houston Chronicle, she says, “I oppose one.” |
| Does the vote prove she wants to impose one? | No. The vote and her public statement are evidence of what was recorded and said; they do not establish private intent. |
| What is the current legal barrier? | Article VIII, Section 24-a prohibits the legislature from imposing a tax on individual net income. Changing that rule requires a constitutional amendment and voter ratification. |
H.J.R. 38 author Jeff Leach described the path in the Houston Chronicle as requiring another constitutional amendment, two-thirds support in both chambers, the governor’s signature and voter approval. The constitutional amendment history and Senate analysis establish the key current requirements: two-thirds passage in each chamber and ratification by voters.
Do not confuse the income-tax rule with the capital-gains amendment
A separate 2025 amendment addressed taxes on realized or unrealized capital gains of an individual, family, estate or trust. The Texas Legislative Council records its adoption by 65.4%. The Senate Research Center’s analysis said the proposed restriction would not prohibit property taxes or retail sales and use taxes. That capital-gains provision is a separate constitutional question, not the same rule as Article VIII, Section 24-a’s prohibition on an individual net-income tax.
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What this says about the midterm race
The record supports a narrow conclusion: Abbott has made the issue a campaign attack, while Hinojosa rejects the implication and the reported vote shows she opposed the measure intended to add a constitutional ban. That vote does not establish that she wants to impose an income tax. The available reporting and official amendment records do not show whether Abbott’s message has changed voter opinion or affected the race.
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