Category Archives: fairness

Editorial. 3 Reasons Texas Needs Eminent Domain Reform.

San Antonio Express News Editorial, Eminent domain law reform needed, says these are the reasons texas needs eminent domain reform:

  • Texas is going to face a lot of eminent domain in our growing state with its growing energy industry
  • there are a lot of property owner horror stories
  • let’s be fair, there is no harm in transparency

 

3 Reason Eminent Domain Works for the Takers of Texas Land.

The Texas Farm Bureau President states his case by riasing these 3 points:

  • Private Entities. 1271 non-governmental entities have eminent domain authority
  • Transparency. those 1271 do not have the same transparency rules of local governments
  • Unfairness. No fairness when landowners are forced to sell. More good faith. More just compensation.

Houston Chronicle | Opinion | Eminent domain works in Texas — for the takers [Opinion]

Lege TREND. Texas State Representative Eminent Domain Supports 3 Changes. Hello to you Pipelines & Transmission Lines

Texas State Representative Brad Buckley at his first townhall since the Leiglature convened made these points about eminent domain:

  • Stop companies from acquiring land with inadequate compensation
  • Disclose exactly what will be built
  • Disclose exactly what will be buried (Bonjour pipelines and transmission lines)

Kileen Daily Herald | Buckley holds first town hall since election to District 54 seat

+1 Local Government. No Eminent Domain for Private Gain. From the North.

Columbia County, Wisconsin Baord of Supervisors voted to support he following statewide eminent domain reform:

  • prohibit private companies from using eminent domain to take property
  • public good should not include economic growth
  • ensure that landowners can negotiate for a fair price.

Are other Wisconsin counties doing the same thing? Yes, at least 6

Portage Daily Register | Columbia County Board favors eminent domain reform

Sawyer County Record | Rusk County passes resolution calling for…

Refreshing our Recollection | READ THE BILL | Compensation for Local Government Ordinances that Affect Property Value

 

 

 

Michigan Legislature is considering HB4070 (2017-2018 | MI) which addresses land owner compensation in 3 ways:

  • Attorney Fees and Costs when a court determines a taking occurred
  • State Attorney General creates a list of governmental actions that results in a taking occurring
  • Can apply to rules, permits, applications and other governmental actions

Mackinac Center | House Bill 4070, Revise government eminent domain takings: Passed 76 to 31 in the House on March 28, 2017

 

 

3 Problems with Eminent Domain in Texas. Hello 2019 Legislative Session.

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s Opinion: Texas landowners subsidize pipelines and powerlines says this happens in 3 ways:

  • profits often outweigh the rights of landowners with some pipelines & transmission lines
    • agents may pocket any money budgeted that isn’t paid to land owners
    • disincentivizes fair offers to landowners
  • Intimidation. The team of lawyers of pipelines and transmission line companies
  • adequate offers are essential so landowners are treated like partners…

Legal Trend. Pre-condemnation Taking. Pipelines. 2 Reasons Libertarians Side with Land Owners. WHO. WHAT. WHERE. IMPACT.

WHO: The libertarian Niskanen Center

WHAT: Libertarians, supporting landowners over a FERC permitted pipeline in a dispute over pre-condemnation access, offer these 2 reasons for siding with Landowners over economics:

  • DUE PROCESS FOR LANDOWNERS “No court has ever held that property owners can be forced to wait indefinitely for the constitutionally-required hearing on the taking of their land, and this Court should not be the first,”
  • FERCs approval process violates landowners’ constitutional…

8 Property Rights Points from Rural Land Owners. Pipelines from Permian Basin to the Texas Gulf.

A lawyer representing rural landowners writes:

  • Private for-profit companies are given the government’s power to take private property under assumptions that this is good, common good
  • Are we rubber stamping common good projects for public use/benefit?
  • Why are we taking land before the process is approved by the courts?
  • We need to look at the costs and benefits of eminent domain
  • What happens to old pipelines and how does this get factored into the costs and benefits?
  • Landowners are in an…

3 Points. Institute for Justice Against Pipelines and Eminent Domain. +1 Solution

Institute for Justice lays out these 3 points arguing eminent domain absue by pipelines:

  • “FERC presides over a system that strips property owners of their rights without courts”
  • FERC dawdles and property owners have access to courts blocked
  • Pipelines can unfairly start cutting down trees even before state permits are granted, with an example from NY of 500 trees cut down on a family farm for a project that was never permitted

the Solution: real judicial review, in a court, before proepty is…

This Texas State Representative Describes Eminent Domain as driven by…

Cecil Bell believes eminent domain reform is a “constituent-driven dialogue”

His concern about eminent domain: ” got to do a better job as a state in trying to figure out how to balance between the intended very limited use of eminent domain and processes like that and where we find it being used today”

Let’s diagram State Representative Bell’s eminent domain concern:

  • The big bad: how eminent domain is being used today is not balanced & the eminent domain scales are tipped against…