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June 1, 2007
EMINENT DOMAINIA: States' rights
With two men controlling the entire legislative agenda in Albany, betting on eminent domain reform in NY is like waiting for Godot.
However, nearly two years after the Kelo ruling, a few states are still taking reform seriously, though some property-rights activists are concerned that reforms won't go far enough:
CONNECTICUT
NewsTime, State Senate passes bill limiting eminent domain
Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court sparked national outrage by siding with the city of New London in an emotional eminent domain case, Connecticut's Senate passed a bill Thursday limiting the taking of private property.
But opponents of eminent domain said the bill, which passed 33-3, is not strong enough.
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The bill forbids municipalities from using eminent domain to ultimately boost its tax base and requires a local governing body to approve the use of eminent domain by a two-thirds vote, among numerous other changes such as a more thorough hearing process.
NEW JERSEY
AP, via Forbes, NJ: Reforms Urged for Land-Taking Laws
Public Advocate Ronald L. Chen urged the Legislature in his report to stem the abuses that violate private property owners' rights by amending the state's overly broad redevelopment laws.
NORTH CAROLINA
The News Observer, House votes to restrict eminent domain
Voters across the state could get to rewrite the state constitution so that government agencies in North Carolina cannot seize someone's private property for an economic development project, even when a fair price is paid.
The state House on Thursday agreed to let voters decide in the next statewide election on restricting the ability of government to take land using its power of eminent domain. The bill passed 104-15 with broad, bipartisan support.
It now goes to the state Senate, where its prospects are not clear. If the Senate goes along, the issue could be on ballots in the next statewide elections, which would be in either November (if there is a statewide bond referendum) or May 2008.
CALIFORNIA
The Sacramento Bee, Eminent domain plan aired
California state and local governments would no longer be able to seize a home to make way for private development under an assemblyman's proposal Monday to change the state's eminent domain law.
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8 by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, would also prevent a government from taking a small business, unless it was part of a plan to get rid of blight and the business was given a chance to participate.
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Critics immediately denounced the proposal as little more than window dressing, an attempt to trick voters into believing that abuses of the state's eminent domain laws are being fixed.
Posted by lumi at June 1, 2007 1:45 PM