WACO, Texas — Last week in Austin, agricultural organizations, state legislators and others stood shoulder to shoulder and launched a legislative campaign to achieve eminent domain reform.
Texas’ reputation as a property rights state is currently not much more than a myth.
Landowners complain of offers far below market value, often not enough to restore the land after a right-of-way is taken. The reform coalition seeks transparency in the process, with public meetings and some teeth in a law that requires making a fair offer.
By now you are thinking, “That’s not too much to ask.” It’s not.
Those who like eminent domain law the way it is are complaining about cost and delays.
Does that mean we don’t have enough money or time to be fair? Considering that private entities will make billions with property takings, I think we can afford to be fair.
No one is attacking eminent domain. We need infrastructure. It is, however, shameful to build it on the backs of farmers, ranchers and rural landowners.
–Gene Hall
Texas Farm Bureau
For more articles out of Texas, click here.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An appeals court ruling now stands in the way of a bikeway project begun more than 27 years ago by the Mill Creek Metropolitan Park District (MetroParks) in Mahoning County. The Seventh District Court of Appeals recently ruled that MetroParks did not have the power of eminent domain when it attempted to acquire […]
REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Ohioans can start planning visits to all of their favorite fairs across the state. The Ohio Department of Agriculture has released the official dates for the 2022 fair season, which includes Ohio’s 94 county and independent fairs and the Ohio State Fair. The Paulding County Fair will kick off the 2022 fair […]
DALLAS, Texas — Closing the gates on the 2021 State Fair of Texas embodies an even greater meaning than years past. After more than 700 days without the State Fair of Texas, the opportunity to come together safely again this year was the celebratory reunion we all longed for, and finally rejoiced in for 24 […]
WACO, Texas — The president of the state’s largest general farm organization urged Texas House lawmakers to give landowners an eminent domain process where they can legitimately negotiate a fair deal. Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) President Russell Boening of Wilson County testified in Austin in support of the committee substitute for HB 901 (CSHB 901) […]
