Constitutional Amendment Campaign
Long-term, comprehensive campaign allows for home-equity loans

The situation

Members of the financial services industry, following over 20 years of failed legislative efforts, needed help to amend Texas' state constitution in order to permit home-equity lending.

Public Strategies' solution

Public Strategies did its homework and formulated a far-reaching plan to reframe the issue of homeequity borrowing for the public as well as for lawmakers.

• Public Strategies conducted extensive research to help define the issue of home-equity reform. Focus groups, polls, economic impact studies and one-on-one visits with legislators revealed that Texans considered the ability to borrow against the equity in their homes a property right; that message became the cornerstone of our campaign.

• Public Strategies created a coalition of supporters for home-equity reform through a targeted grassroots campaign. The coalition's membership and support for the community-based campaign grew steadily across Texas.

• Public Strategies launched a statewide education campaign about the issue, openly and fairly addressing misunderstood concepts such as the homestead law, bankruptcy and foreclosure.

• Public Strategies employed a broad spectrum of communications tactics to deliver the property rights message via the coalition and education efforts, including: direct mail; radio and television commercials; a professionally produced videotape about the issue; town hall meetings; newspaper editorial board visits; opinion editorials; and letters to the editor.

Client benefits

• The Texas Legislature voted overwhelmingly to put a home-equity constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot for voters to decide.

• By almost a 60% margin, Texas voters approved an amendment to the state constitution authorizing home-equity loans, resulting in over $100 billion in loans being made over the next five years.