News 14 Carolina was among the media outlets that covered last week’s press conference. Click here to read their article and watch the video of their television report.

Audio of today’s press conference is available online by clicking here.

HB 878 Stuck in Committee that Last Met in 2001

RALEIGH – The N.C. Property Rights Coalition held a press conference today to call on the N.C. Senate leadership to bring the eminent domain amendment (HB 878) to the floor for a vote. Speakers at the press conference included House Minority Leader Paul Stam, Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, Dallas Woodhouse of Americans for Prosperity, Joyce Krawiec of FreedomWorks and Kieran Shanahan, Chairman of the N.C. Property Rights Coalition. Property rights supporters from as far away as Asheville attended the press conference, which was held in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

From The Locker Room (by Daren Bakst):

As the Senate continues to ignore the will of the public by not considering the eminent domain constitutional amendment, there finally appears to be some legislators calling for some action.

In this AP article, there is a discussion of the current status of the amendment. A line in the article grabbed my attention: (click here for more…)

From WRAL.com:

Supporters of a constitutional amendment to further restrict land condemnation by local and state governments in North Carolina want the Senate to consider the legislation before this year’s legislative session ends.

For seven weeks, the eminent domain legislation has been parked in a Senate committee that hasn’t held a public meeting since 2001, Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger said Tuesday. The House approved the bipartisan bill in May, and the issue would go to voters this fall if the bill is approved by the Senate.

Click here for the rest of the article

We are hosting a press conference this Thursday to call on the Senate leadership to bring HB 878 (the eminent domain amendment) to the floor for a vote. Details are here.

On May 24, the eminent domain amendment (HB 878) passed the NC House by a vote of 104-15. On May 29, the bill was referred to the N.C. Senate’s Ways & Means Committee. It has not been acted on since.

Today, I called the office of Sen. Charlie Dannelly, Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee, and asked when the Ways & Means Committee last met. His assistant’s answer: 2001.