Monthly Archives: February 2021

What’s happening? The Missouri House again passed a bill to prevent the use of private land for the Grain Belt Express power line without property owners’ permission. Why is this important? The supporting argument that gains traction here would apply to rail, pipelines and roads. The idea is that there should be no eminent domain […]

What’s happening? Arizona is considering SB 1379 (2021 | AZ) that walks back statewide preemption of local short term rental rules. The change of heart moves from the idea that short term rentals are a part of our property rights vs. more control over short term rentals because property rights include the use and enjoyment […]

What’s happening? Montana is considering SB 268 (2021 | MT) that would allow residents of a mobile home park to petition the local government to condemn the property, when the quality of life decreases at the property. The property owners will then take over the property. Why is this important? Moving ownership from one entity […]

What’s happening? Ohio is considering a bill from its last legislative session, this legislative session. This repeat bill would prohibit eminent domain from recreational trails and also allow landowners to veto the use of eminent domain bu their local government. HB 63 (2021 | OH) Why is this important? A perennial call by legislators is […]

What’s happening? California Republican has filed SB 238 (2021 | CA), the Diversity in Thought Act seeks to protect political affiliation as a protected class. Why is this important? Cancel Culture is getting its backlash. The Republican author of this bill said, ““It is unfathomable to me that corporations and members of the public would […]

What’s the deal? Colorado has a ban on sleeping in cars in designated spots, like rest stops. A Colorado Court it violates the Constitution to prosecute people for sleeping outdoors when indoor shelter is not available to them. This follows a 2018 federal 9th Circuit opinion. Why is this important? How cities and states handle […]

What’s the deal? Los Angeles City Council is considering eminent domain to acquire an apartment complex to avoid an inevitable swarm of evictions. Why is this important? City Council thought it cold use COVID funding for this purpose but it cannot. The $46 million will hav to come from existing funds. How will this be […]

What’s the deal? Arizona passed a statewide preemption bill to regulate short term rentals. The goal was to put Arizona at the front of the sharing economy. Why is this important? What happened was that instead of homeowners renting out their vacant homes, Arizona experienced an increase in companies buying homes and creating boutique “hotels” […]

What’s the deal? The Texas General Land Office has created the Texas Defense Task Force within the General Land Office with the mission to identify federal overreach and fend off threats to the Texas oil and gas economy. Why is this important? Welcome back to the days where every state official talked about the 10th amendment […]

What’s the deal? The City of Austin has been pushing back against billboard companies that support digital billboards throughout the city. The city wants to protect its skyline. The 5th Circuit said that prohibiting off-premise billboards switching to digital is content-based violation of the First Amendment’s protections on freedom of speech. Why should we care? […]