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Cattle
Raisers shocked by governor's veto of eminent domain bill
FORT WORTH, Texas, June 18, 2007—Texas and Southwestern
Cattle Raisers Association was shocked by the news that Gov.
Perry has vetoed the most important property rights
legislation Texas has seen in decades.
"Gov.
Perry has sent the message loud and clear that he does not
support private property rights," said Jon Means, TSCRA
president. "H.B. 2006 would have restored fairness to the
condemnation process and ensured that property owners are
justly compensated for their loss."
Reportedly, the veto resulted from an amendment added to the
bill by Sen. Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) that would have required
the special commissioners in a condemnation case to consider
loss of access when determining compensation for the
landowner.
This
amendment applied only to state highway projects; it would
not have affected county or city road projects. The Texas
Department of Transportation argued that the amendment would
result in up to $1 billion in additional costs, but offered
no data to support this claim.
"Prior
to the 1993 decision by the Texas Supreme Court in
Schmidt v. State, landowners were compensated for
diminished access," said Ed Small, legal counsel for
TSCRA. "The state treasury didn't go bankrupt prior to 1993
because of this and it wouldn't go bankrupt if this bill
were to become law."
"We
applaud Sen. Hegar for his valiant effort on behalf of
landowners across Texas," said Jon Means. "We are, however,
extremely disappointed that in this state it is apparently
acceptable for the government to take people's property
without paying them for their damage."
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a
130-year-old trade organization whose 14,800 members manage
approximately 3.7 million head of cattle on 96.5 million
acres of range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and
Oklahoma. It provides law enforcement services, livestock
inspection, legislative and regulatory advocacy and
education opportunities for its members.
TSCRA-18-2007 |
