From the Asheville Citizen-Times:
Lawmakers wanting to limit city annexation powers acknowledged Wednesday their legislation likely would fail to clear the General Assembly this year.
But they will try to salvage the cause by submitting the issue for study.
From N.C. House Republican Leader Paul Stam:
Raleigh – Just in time to meet “crossover” requirements, the North Carolina House has given final approval to a state constitutional amendment protecting private property. House Bill 878 would place the amendment on the ballot for voter approval during the next statewide election and would protect owners from having private property condemned by state and local governments for anything other than a “public use.”
We have good news to report: House Bill 878 (the eminent domain amendment) is on the House calendar for today!
Please contact your House member and tell them to support this important bill. According to the calendar the House is scheduled to convene at 1:45 p.m. today.
This post from The Locker Room provides us with an update on the status of the eminent domain amendment. The entry, posted by Becki Gray, says the following:
“It (HB 878) was on the calendar for the House Judiciary Committee (after several days of input from many interested parties, including JLF, resulting in a newly drafted proposed committee substitute). The committee met for an hour, considered and voted on about eight other bills on the calendar. The committee adjourned before taking up the eminent domain bill. It has to pass the House before Thursday night at midnight. They will reconvene after.’” session to continue their work. Chairman Dan Blue (D-Wake) said at the end of the meeting, ‘We may vote on anything between now and the cross over deadline.’”
The following is a news release from Rep. Paul Stam, minority leader in the N.C. House:
Raleigh - On Tuesday, May 15, the Eminent Domain Constitutional Amendment was finally re-referred to the House Judiciary II Committee, chaired by former Speaker Dan Blue (D-Wake), one of the primary sponsors.
Other primary sponsors are Reps. Paul Stam (R-Wake), Jim Harrell (D-Surry) and David Lewis (R-Harnett). As co-sponsors, 92 House members also signed onto the bill in March. Re-referral of the amendment from the Rules Committee to Blue’s Judiciary II Committee brought hope to supporters of the proposal.
We have good news to report: House Bill 878 (the eminent domain amendment) was moved from the Rules committee to the Judiciary II Committee on May 15. The J-II Committee is chaired by Rep. Dan Blue (D-Wake), one of the primary sponsors of HB 878.
We will keep you posted on the bill’s status.
According to a report released by the John Locke Foundation, the N.C. Constitution has the nation’s weakest property rights protection.
Click here for an article outlining the release of the report
Click here for a copy of the report
The JLF report makes the case for a constitutional amendment to protect against these types of takings and other eminent-domain abuses.
