Early to Rise left off ballot, but organizers plan for future

A lawsuit ordering Harris County Judge Ed Emmett to include an Early to Rise ballot item on the November ballot was thrown out by a three-member panel of the 14th Court of Appeals. The court released a brief opinion late Sept. 5.

The ballot item would have allowed voters to decide whether property taxes in Harris County should be increased by 1-cent per $100 of valuation to fund early childhood education improvements.

The Early to Rise campaign sought to take advantage of a law that said the initiative could be added to the ballot if organizers received enough petition signatures from Harris County voters. The petition needed at least 78,824 signatures—or 10 percent of the number of registered voters in the last gubernatorial election—to be considered. It ended up garnering roughly 85,000 in Harris County and 150,000 total.

Emmett denied the petition, claiming the organizers were using an arcane law and that the language used on the petition rendered it invalid.

"After a great deal of research and consultation, I determined that the arcane law they tried to use did not allow them to increase taxes in the manner they proposed," Emmett said in a Sept. 6 statement. "I am gratified that the judges of the 14th Court of Appeals agreed."

A statement from the Early to Rise campaign said organizers respectfully accept the opinion of the court, but they remain determined to support early childhood education in Harris County. Although no official plans have been disclosed regarding what is next for Early to Rise, voters may have the chance to vote on a similar ballot item in the future, if organizers can meet the requirements in Harris County.