Category Archives: private company

Private Property Rights: 1st City in US Addresses Blight By Treating the Source.

What city is addressing blight by “treating the source?” Memphis

How much blight is in Memphis? 16% of housing stock is vacant

What are the 3 goals of the Memphis Neighborhood Blight Elimination Charter? 

  • economic development
  • quality of life
  • coordination among exisiting local governmental agencies that tackle blight

What entities are involved with the Memphis Nighborhood Blight Elimination Center?

  • nine government agencies
  • nonprofits
  • private businesses

What were tangential…

7 Texas Counties. For Private Property Rights. Against Eminent Domain.

Which County Commissioners voted to oppose Texas Central Rail high speed rail plan? Navarro County Commissioners 

The number of counties staking claim to official opposition: 7

The basis for the opposition in Navarro County? Oppose the granting of eminent domain authority to the private high speed rail

County Judge names legislators who support the County Commissioner opposition resulation: Representative Byron Cook and Senator Brian Birdwell

Corsicana Daily Sun | County…

State Lege Kills Transmission Line Eminent Domain. Congress Acts to Remove Funding. 3 Key arguments. Know the other side like you know yourself.

What transmission line is this state & federal legislative re-write concerning? The  Plains and Eastern Clean Line high-voltage transmission, a clean energy line traversing Arkansas, Missouri & other central states 

What caused the hoopla? Missouri & Arkansas chimed in when the transmission line sought eminent domain but wasn’t providing power within each state.

What are the arguments bandied about?

  • Tangible public use. Congressman Cotton is ok with eminent domain, if the…

Feds to Answer whether High Speed Rail must follow Texas Eminent Domain Laws?

The Ellis County Press published an Op-Ed from Texans Against High Speed Rail.

What points does Texans Against High Speed Rail make in its Op-Ed?

  • Texas Central Rail doesn’t have its funding in place
  • Texas Central Rail has no problems using eminent domain to take land it doesn’t need
  • Texas Central Rail is asking the federal government whether it has to comply with Texas eminent domain laws

Ellis County Press | TCR proposes to acquire land it ultimately won’t use to satisfy investors

3 Property Owner Points. Waller County. High Speed Rail. Pre condemnation Access.

Will eminent domain be used by Texas Centeral Rail to build its Dallas-Houston high speed rail?  Only if deals cannot be reached

How did property owners in Waller County react?

  • Waller County Judge Trey Duhon: “This is a huge eminent domain issue. Texas is a huge private property right state.” 
  • A property owner turned away a precondemnation surveyor on his property & mentions their have target practice on their property
  • Reports are that deals will never come.

High Speed Rail is…

Eminent Domain for Drug Prices. 3 Key Points to the Argument.

  • Federal Law Says So. The because I said so reason from the government for siezing drug companies patents is rooted in 28 U.S.C. section 1498. 
  • Reasonable Compensation to Pharmaceuticals. Drug companies would get “reasonable and entire compensation”
  • The government doesn’t have to get consent. The government can use any patent without consent so long as the compensation is ” “reasonable and entire.”

The question: does the fear of eminent domain to take drug patents bring about…

Campaign Trend. Eminent Domain. 3 Key Reforms Touted.

What eminent domain reforms are being touted by a campaign?

  • Deny eminent domain to private entities
  • Shift Burden of Proof from the land owner to the condeming entity
  • New Standard for Public Use:
    • ​a “purpose wholly for public use and necessity”
  • Good Faith Negotiations by condeming entities
  • Require a condemning entity to evaluate:
    • health and safety impacts of their project
    • weigh impact of alternatives to those requiring condemnation

Concord (NH) Patch | Rubens Proposes…

Private Property Rights. License Plate Readers. Lesson from the Attorney General

How would a county in Texas be able to capture license plate information for the purpose of enforcing minimum libaility insurance statutes?

  • Pass a Bill
  • Give Counties specific authority to use certain equipment
  • Give counties specific purpose to use the equipment
  • Specify what the enforcement mechanism will be

How did we learn this step by step guide to county license plate reader use?  Because of Attorney General Opinion KP-0076 that answers  whether Bowie County can engage a private…

TREND: New Eminent Domain Target. High Pressure Gas Lines. 3 Points Informed Intel.

What state passed new eminent domain restrictions this week? New Hampshire. Freedom loving libertarian types, sound familiar?

What was the primary target of the NH eminent domain reform? gas pipelines, with some legislators laser focused on “outlawing” high pressure gas lines

What specific reforms happened in NH’s HB 1660? 

  • eminent domain will now trigger a land use change tax in NH
  • for high pressure gas lines, an entire piece of property must be acquired by eminent domain
  • requires a…

INTERIM. Does the Economic Impact of Texas High Speed Rail Support Eminent Domain?

What great economic gains does Texas Central Rail points to with high speed rail? 

  • $36 billion economic impact over 25 years
  • TCR will pay $2.5 billion in taxes to state, counties and local governments
  • The $10 billion project is a job creator, providing 10,000 jobs a year during the four-year construction phase and an additional 1,000 jobs, once the train is in operation.

What does Grimes County Judge say about economic benefits and the impact to eminent domain? Irrelevant. “The power of…