SB 18 is Now the Law of the Land

Today I had the great honor of joining Governor Rick Perry and participating in the signing ceremony to enact into law an eminent domain bill that protects private property owners from having their land unjustly taken for public use.

In Texas, our land is our legacy. Today’s signing of SB 18 ensures intense scrutiny and fair compensation to land owners when eminent domain is used.

This law was a long time coming and I’d like to thank Sen. Craig Estes, Sen. Robert Duncan, Rep. Charlie Geren, Rep. Rene Oliveira and Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt for their diligent support in upholding what the Texas Constitution guarantees -- that private property owners will not be subjected to intrusive condemnation proceedings.

Don’t mess with Texas, and don’t mess with Texas land. It’s more than a slogan; it’s the law.

A Panhandle Push for Eminent Domain Reform

I am traveling today with Gov. Rick Perry to Abilene and Lubbock where we are meeting with local leaders to reiterate the critical importance of eminent domain reform. The governor and the people of Texas are standing strong when it comes to a right as fundamental as private property ownership.

The Senate has passed SB 18, authored by Sen. Craig Estes and Sen. Robert Duncan, which provides private property owners more leverage when it comes to protecting their land from government takings. The bill would help ensure landowners are more fully compensated for the damages they may realize due to a taking, and includes buy-back provisions to ensure a property owner has the right to repurchase their land, if the project is cancelled.

It should go without saying these are critical steps in the right direction, but the journey is not yet over. Many members of the House, including the bill’s sponsors, Chairman Charlie Geren and Chairman Rene Oliveira, are working hard to make sure the House approves SB 18. It is still important to share your interest in eminent domain reform with your state elected officials.

To hear more of my discussion about eminent domain, watch the video below:

Crucial Eminent Domain Reform Passes Senate Committee

After testifying today to the Senate State Affairs Committee on behalf of private property owners in Texas, I’m happy to hear the committee passed SB 18, by Senator Craig Estes.

Private property owners’ rights are fundamental to our free market system, and protection of those rights is vital to the continued economic vitality of the Lone Star State. Growth is welcome in Texas, but it is imperative that we correct the gross injustice that is currently allowing homeowners and landowners to be taken advantage of during eminent domain negotiations.

SB 18 builds on other legislation such as Proposition 11, which created a constitutional limit on governments’ ability to take private property for non-public uses, and was approved by 81 percent of Texas voters in 2009. SB 18 requires fair compensation and establishes a buy-back provision for land that is taken, but then not used by the acquirer.

I want to thank Senator Estes, as well as Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, for their leadership in this area.

Remember: You don’t mess with Texans and SB 18 reassures you don’t mess with Texans’ land!

You can read my full testimony here.

Eminent Domain Reform Needed

Check out this article. It clearly demonstrates the need for eminent domain reform and the failure of current policy.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/6636739.html

Or read full text below:

Conn. land vacant 4 years after court OK'd seizure
By KATIE NELSON Associated Press Writer

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Weeds, glass, bricks, pieces of pipe and shingle splinters have replaced the knot of aging homes at the site of the nation's most notorious eminent domain project.

There are a few signs of life: Feral cats glare at visitors from a miniature jungle of Queen Anne's lace, thistle and goldenrod. Gulls swoop between the lot's towering trees and the adjacent sewage treatment plant.

But what of the promised building boom that was supposed to come wrapped and ribboned with up to 3,169 new jobs and $1.2 million a year in tax revenues? They are noticeably missing.

Proponents of the ambitious plan blame the sour economy. Opponents call it a "poetic justice."

"They are getting what they deserve. They are going to get nothing," said Susette Kelo, the lead plaintiff in the landmark property rights case. "I don't think this is what the United States Supreme Court justices had in mind when they made this decision."

Kelo's iconic pink home sat for more than a century on that currently empty lot, just steps away from Connecticut's quaint but economically distressed Long Island Sound waterfront. Shortly after she moved in, in 1997, her house became ground zero in the nation's best-known land rights catfight.

New London officials decided they needed Kelo's land and the surrounding 90 acres for a multimillion-dollar private development that included residential, hotel conference, research and development space and a new state park that would complement a new $350 million Pfizer pharmaceutical research facility.

Kelo and six other homeowners fought for years, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2005, justices voted 5-4 against them, giving cities across the country the right to use eminent domain to take property for private development.

The decision was sharply criticized and created grassroots backlash. Forty states quickly passed new, protective rules and regulations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some protesters even tried to turn the tables on now-retired Justice David Souter, trying unsuccessfully in 2006 to take his New Hampshire home by eminent domain to build an inn.

In New London the city's prized economic development plan has fallen apart as the economy crumbled.

The Corcoran Jennison Cos., a Boston-based developer, had originally locked in exclusive rights to develop nearly the entire northern half of the Fort Trumbull peninsula.

But those rights expired in June 2008, despite multiple extensions, because the firm was unable to secure financing, according to President Marty Jones.

In July, backers halted fundraising for the project's crown jewel, a proposed $60 million, 60,000-square-foot Coast Guard museum.

The poor economy meant that donations weren't "keeping pace with expenses," said Coast Guard Foundation president Anne Brengle.

The group hopes to resume fundraising in the future, she said.

Overall, proponents say about two-thirds of the 90-acre site is developed, in part because of a 16-acre, $25 million state park. The other third of the land remains without the promised residential housing, office buildings, shops and hotel/conference center facility.

"If there had been no litigation, which took years to work its way through (the court system), then a substantial portion of this project would be constructed by now," said John Brooks, executive director of the New London Development Corp. "But we are victims of the economic cycle, and there is nothing we can do about that."

A new engineering tenant is moving into one of the office buildings at 1 Chelsea St., and a bio tech firm with as many as five employees is getting ready to move into an existing building on Howard Street, Brooks said.

Kelo, paid $442,000 by the state for her old property, now lives across the Thames River in Groton, in a white, two-bedroom 1950s bungalow. Her beloved pink house was sold for a dollar and moved less than two miles away, where a local preservationist has refurbished it.

Kelo can see her old neighborhood from her new home, but she finds the view too painful to bear.

"Everything is different, but everything is like still the same," said Kelo, who works two jobs and has largely maintained a low profile since moving away. "You still have life to deal with every day of the week. I just don't have eminent domain to deal with every day of the week, even after I ate, slept and breathed it for 10 years."

Although her side lost, Kelo said she sees the wider ramifications of her property rights battle.

"In the end it was seven of us who fought like wild animals to save what we had," she said. "I think that though we ultimately didn't win for ourselves, it has brought attention to what they did to us, and if it can make it better for some other people so they don't lose their homes to a Dunkin' Donuts or a Wal-Mart, I think we did some good."

Scott Bullock, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice, argued Kelo's case before the Supreme Court. He calls "massive changes that have happened in the law and in the public consciousness" the "real legacy" of Kelo and the other plaintiffs.

The empty land means the city won a "hollow victory," he said.

"What cities should take from this is to run fleeing from what New London did and do economic development that is market-driven and incorporate properties of folks who are truly committed to their neighborhood and simply want to be a part of what happens," he said.

Special session should include eminent domain reform

Governor Perry has confirmed a need for a special session of the Texas Legislature to address unfinished business. There are five agencies that were not reauthorized and will expire if the legislature does not take action, including the Texas Department of Insurance and the Texas Department of Transportation.

While you could probably count on one hand the people who really want to see the legislature back in session, even among our representatives and senators, this is welcomed news for millions of Texans who are gravely concerned about the rights of property owners.

With a special session, the governor chooses what is on the “call” or agenda for the designated 30-day period. With the dangerous erosion of private property owners’ rights over the years, reforming our eminent domain laws must be added to the vital to-do list.

There was progress during the legislative session with the passage of HJR 14, a constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot this November. It will provide much-needed protection to ensure when government exercises condemnation power, it’s for a clear public purpose. This is a necessary bill, which was signed by the governor today, and I commend Governor Perry for his efforts in bringing the needs of private property owners' rights to the forefront. HJR 14 is critical, but greater steps are necessary to protect landowners.

The good news is most of the hard work to correct these deficiencies has already been done. Senate Bill 18, authored by Senator Craig Estes, had already passed the full Senate and a House committee, and was set for a vote on the Major State Calendar in the House when the clock ran out. This proposal had strong bi-partisan support in both chambers and was strongly backed by many trade organizations throughout the state.

Action by our state officials to pass this bill and protect our state’s property owners is essential. I have officially written Governor Perry a letter to ask him to add eminent domain reform to the call.

Eminent Domain Reform Demands A Special Session

I recently wrote the commentary below on the need for meaningful eminent domain reform. If you agree with the commentary, please forward the following link to others who share our commitment to duty. www.commissionertoddstaples.blogspot.com.

The editorial was published in the Austin American-Statesman on June 4, 2009.

Eminent Domain Reform Demands A Special Session

Of all the important issues facing our great state, eminent domain reform demands immediate legislative action.

The passage of HJR 14, a constitutional amendment that will be sent to the voters this November, provides much needed protection to ensure that in the unfortunate instance that government must exercise condemnation powers, that it is for a clear public use and purpose.

Painfully absent from our laws in Texas – the land of Houston, Bowie and Crockett – are fundamental protections to the owners of private property. A series of loopholes in the law and court decisions have eroded our basic structure of what distinguishes us from other countries. It was no accident our founding fathers placed the defense of property right in line with life and liberty, where it belongs.

Now, we the people must continue this legacy for the next generation of Texans.

The recently concluded legislative session yielded a vehicle to right some terrible wrongs that cast a shadow over an otherwise shining Lone Star. Delay tactics by a few house members prevented final passage of SB 18, a bill unanimously passed by the senate. The bill would have established stricter penalties for not negotiating in good faith; demanded adequate compensation for loss of access; and clarified eminent domain must only be exercised for public use.

Fortunately, the writers of our Texas Constitution allowed for the Governor to call a special session of the legislature to address unfinished and urgent business of the people of Texas. We know there are several matters that were casualties of the regular session that need to be tackled – eminent domain reform is without a question or doubt one of these essential topics.

Surely the descendants of those who defended the Alamo and the heirs of those who tamed a vast and wild land will not rest until Texas once again rightly provides for the protection of life, liberty and property. Doing so is more than a reason to call for special session; it is a call to duty.

Sine Die - the end of the regular legislative session

Today marks the 140th day of the 81st Regular Session of the Texas Legislature; our legislators will be adjourning Sine Die. No doubt, there have been many long days and short nights hammering out the final details of surviving legislation, particularly over this past weekend.

It is extremely regrettable SB 18, the session's landmark eminent domain reform bill, died as a result of chubbing at the end of session. This badly needed legislation would have significantly bolstered the rights of private property owners to require bona fide offers in negotiations and adequate compensation for loss of access.

Fortunately, HJR 14 was passed by both chambers and will be headed to the voters this November. This amendment will ensure in our state's constitution that a person's property cannot be taken for anything but a true public use, and would forbid the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes.

You probably remember the famous Kelo decision by the United States Supreme Court that said it was okay to take private property from an individual and give it to another in the name of economic development. Hopefully, the voters of Texas will say "YES" to HJR 14, and a big "NO" to the government stomping on the fundamentals that built our great state.

Stay tuned. I will try to highlight some key legislation that will soon be signed into law.

Eminent domain reform key to protecting property owners' rights

Tuesday at the Dallas Real Estate Symposium, I spoke to a group of real estate professionals affiliated with the North Texas Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. The daylong seminar included discussions by real estate professionals from throughout Texas with a great deal of knowledge about the current real estate market and its impact on our state’s economy.

One panelist testified that on many commercial properties he has been appraising, the debt on the property exceeds the value in some markets by two-to-one! The good news is that these professionals are analyzing this data to help Texans make smart decisions and turn our economy around.

My remarks focused on promoting Texas agriculture and the importance of protecting property owners’ rights. The underlying value of real estate is bolstered by the ability to use and hold property to its fullest extent.

Currently, the Texas Legislature is considering key eminent domain reform legislation that has passed the Senate and is currently in the House. For more information about Senate Bill 18, authored by Sen. Craig Estes, or more views on property owners’ rights, read my Private Property Owners’ Bill of Rights. You can find out more about SB 18 here.

The Texas Farm Bureau’s Web site also has a special section devoted to eminent domain reform in Texas with informational videos, news stories and other helpful links. TFB has held many meetings and worked tirelessly throughout the past legislative interim to help bring about needed reform.