Each year, US voters fill out their ballots and make decisions that impact their local communities. Faced with long lists of choices, ballot measures can get buried below electoral races, but voters can tip the scales for major policy through ballot measures. 

A ballot measure is a proposed change to current state or local law or policy presented to voters on state or municipal ballots. In 2025, heartland voters will see numerous initiatives on their ballots, and in some states, voters may already have cast their votes. Here are just a few ballot initiatives across heartland states related to economic growth:

Note: Inclusion of pending or approved ballot initiatives in this article do not constitute endorsements of the policies outlined.

Earlier this year at the state level, Ohio voters solidified resources for local infrastructural planning by approving a ballot initiative titled “Ohio Issue 2”. 

Ohio
Name: Issue 2
Status: Approved by voters on May 6th, 2025

Ohio Issue 2 proposed to renew the State Capital Improvement Program, a program created in the 1980s to provide local governments with resources to improve vital infrastructure such as roads, bridges and sewers. The 2025 renewal authorized an allocation of $2.5 billion in bonds over 10 years for these projects and marks the fourth time Ohioans have voted to renew the program. In previous renewals, Ohioans have approved $2 billion in bonds, but 2025’s successful initiative increased that total by an additional $500 million.

Axios reports the State Capital Improvement Plan has contributed to over 4,500 projects in each of Ohio’s 88 counties in the past 10 years alone. In a 2017 brief, the Economic Policy Institute reported that US investment in infrastructure yielded between a 17% return via private sector production long term, meaning for every $100 in public funds spent on infrastructure, private companies generated $117 for their communities.

Many heartland voters will look to ballot measures to weigh in on policy at the local level, and in a few notable cases, voters find similar infrastructural investments on the ballot.

Oklahoma County, Oklahoma
Name: Oklahoma County Propositions 1-11
Status: Approved by voters on October 14th, 2025

Oklahoma County had eleven proposed propositions this fall that equated to over $2.7 billion in infrastructural funding for nearly 600 projects across Oklahoma City in the largest single bond approval in the city’s history. The infrastructural improvements consist of eleven categories: Streets; Bridges; Traffic System; City Maintenance, Data and Municipal Services Support Facilities; Economic and Community Development; Parks and Recreational Facilities; Libraries and Learning Centers; Drainage Control System; Transit and Parking System; Police, Municipal Courts and Family Justice Facilities; and Fire Facilities. While Oklahoma City reports the bonds will not raise new taxes, they also stress the impact of the projects, claiming: “of the 547 projects in the 2025 Bond, 76% are critical infrastructure projects that meet basic neighborhood and community needs”. Oklahoma City has a history of enacting infrastructural improvements through ballot initiatives, as its Metropolitan Area Projects Plan has been approved four times since 1993 and resulted in three decades of impactful improvements.

Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Names: Bond Issue to Fund City Improvements and Infrastructure Measure, Bond Issue to Fund Affordable Housing Projects Measure and Bond Issue to Fund Stormwater Management Infrastructure Measure
Status: To be considered in the November 15th, 2025 election

The package of ballot measures would approve the issuance of a total of $510 million in bonds to fund infrastructural projects in New Orleans, Louisiana. These projects would include: general updates to infrastructure, improvements to irrigation systems and increases in affordable housing. According to the City of New Orleans, residents would not incur new taxes to repay the bonds, and the city would instead pay for the purchase over time with the 14.5 million property tax rate.  

At the same time, local governments are leveraging ballot measures to legislate policy familiar to Pulse of the Heartland’s readers: tourism taxes. Earlier this year, Pulse of the Heartland covered tourism policy in College Station and Bryan, Texas, which has been utilized by the town to generate increased revenue from tourism.

Jefferson City, Missouri
Name: Proposition A
Status: To be considered in the November 4th, 2025 election

Jefferson City’s Proposition A seeks to extend the 7% lodging tax paid by visitors to Jefferson City on stays at the city’s hotels and motels. Originally passed in 2011, also via ballot initiative, the lodging tax is currently set to expire in 2035. By approving the extension, Jefferson City voters would extend the expiration date to 2060. Revenue gathered by the city via the lodging tax is used exclusively on projects promoting tourism to Missouri’s capital.  

Bexar County, Texas
Name: Proposition A, Increase Hotel Occupancy Tax to Fund Coliseum Complex Venue Project Measure
Status: To be considered in the November 4th, 2025 election

Bexar County’s Proposition A seeks to increase the hotel occupancy tax from 1.75% to 2% in order to fund a $197 million renovation project for the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo grounds. The hotel occupancy tax paid by visitors, coupled with a 5% tax on car rentals, makes up the county’s venue tax fund, which can only be used for projects on entertainment facilities. 

Much of the plan’s success hinges on the passing of Proposition B, however. Proposition B would grant the San Antonio Spurs approximately $311 million from the increased venue tax to build a new arena, thus setting off a series of dominoes, leaving their current arena vacant and resulting in the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo renovating their grounds. As is the case with many communities playing host to sports franchises, the location of stadiums has a tremendous impact on the local economy–a dynamic seen in Kansas City, Minneapolis and Detroit, previously covered in Pulse of the Heartland. 

Ballot measures often serve as the mechanism for enacting impactful economic policy, carrying tremendous importance in shaping the future of local economies. Before going to the polls this November, check if your area is considering ballot measures this cycle using your state’s election resources.