The post Kelo Decision movement to restrict eminent domain continues to move ahead in several states, while in others it has lost momentum as public attention has shifted to other issues. Here is an update:
Many States Making Progress in Protecting Private Property
After extended debate, a House committee voted Tuesday to move a proposed constitutional amendment on eminent domain within one step of final passage.
A bill that would curb the power of government to seize private property is moving through the state Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday passed House Bill 318 to the next committee.The bill restricts the use of eminent domain to acquire private property for redevelopment projects.
It is beginning to look as if Californians will be asked to vote later this year to reform the laws of eminent domain -- and do a lot more to protect private property rights.
Restricting government's ability to take Floridians' private property through eminent domain for economic development has become one of the few agreed-upon principles in the legislature this year.That sentiment was evident Thursday when the House unanimously passed a bill (HB 1567) that would prohibit governments from taking homes or businesses and then handing them over to a private developer.
Gov. Sonny Perdue signed legislation April 4 that became known as the Landowner's Bill of Rights and Private Property Protection Act (HB1313), protecting private landowners in Georgia against the abuse of eminent domain, according to a release from his office.The governor also signed HR1306, a constitutional amendment "requiring that the condemnation of property be approved by a vote of the elected governing authority of the county or city in which the property is located."
[T]he Senate is expected to debate a bill this week that would put limits on cities' eminent-domain powers. The bill passed the House in February.Sen. Bob Brunkhorst, R-Waverly, said the bill will pass in some form. The bill says private-property owners cannot be forced to sell to the government to make way for economic-development projects, with few exceptions.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco will support legislation to prohibit local or state governments from taking private property for the purpose of private economic development, her chief counsel said Tuesday in a key but qualified endorsement of one of the most controversial proposals of the current lawmaking session.
[L]ast week eminent domain reform in Minnesota took a major step ahead when a bill received overwhelming 115-17 support on the House floor. A final eminent domain bill, meshing the House and Senate versions, will now be hammered out in conference committee.
Representative David Pearce, R-Warrensburg (121st District), believes that House Bill 1944, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee by a bi-partisan 9-1 vote, will significantly improve landowner protections against eminent domain abuse.
Lawmakers gave first-round approval on Monday to a bill (LB924) aimed at curbing the use of eminent domain.
A Senate subcommittee studying eminent domain declined Thursday to add specific rules on how to determine compensation, though the subject may come up again.The panel is trying to refine the Senate bill that deals with concerns over a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year, as well as review a House measure on the same topic.
States Where Efforts Have Stalled, Bogged Down, or are at Risk
City and highway officials worry that provisions in an eminent domain bill passed by the House last month, if it survives, will significantly drive up the cost of public improvement projects.
The president of the New York State Bar Association has called on the Legislature to establish a commission to study all proposed amendments to the laws regarding eminent domain in New York, and not to make any changes to existing law or amend the law regarding the purposes under which the government can take property - until the study is complete.
The state legislature continues to drag its feet regarding eminent domain. The likely effect of this dawdling, and, perhaps, its intent, is that the issue will drop off the public's radar with no new restraints on local governments' power to take people's private property.
A state task force studying the use of eminent domain in Ohio will hold a subcommittee meeting April 17 in Norwood.
Sates Where the Abuse of Property Rights Rolls On
A battle over a valuable chunk of property in Assembly Square went before the state Supreme Judicial Court Tuesday. Attorneys from Central Steel and the city appeared in the state's highest court in a fight over the ownership of Central Steel's property in Assembly Square. Central Steel is fighting the city's attempt to seize its property by eminent domain so it can be redeveloped as part of an urban renewal plan. Central Steel has operated a steel fabricating business out of its Assembly Square site for more than 60 years.
Long Branch [NJ] has designated six redevelopment zones in the city, including the Beachfront North, phase II redevelopment zone. Residents residing in that zone appeared in court on March 24 for a hearing at which their attorneys challenged what they say is an abuse of eminent domain by the city of Long Branch.The 36 homes in the three-street neighborhood, known as MTOTSA (Marine and Ocean Terraces and Seaview Avenue) are slated to be acquired by the city through eminent domain and replaced by luxury condominiums built by a private developer.
