State and local officials move to reform eminent domain laws

State and local officials move to reform eminent domain laws

Despite the pleas by the menacing alliance of tax-hungry municipalities and land-hungry developers to do nothing, legislators across the country are quickly moving to fix their abysmal eminent domain laws. The problem of eminent domain abuse was highlighted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s dreadful decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which gave governments the green light to take your home or business and give it to a politically connected private developer because that developer might be able to produce more taxes and more jobs off of your land.
In a relatively short period of time, legislators in more than two dozen states and the U.S. Congress have either proposed or promised to propose legislation that would significantly protect property owners from unauthorized government land grabs. Alabama recently passed a reform bill, which was signed by Governor Bob Riley. Given the amount of outrage on the issue, from across the political spectrum, we expect other states to follow suit.