Private Property Rights Protection Bill Introduced by Congress

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by: Joseph Grather

13 Apr 2011

H.R. 1433 (the “Private Property Rights Protection Act”) was recently introduced in the United States Congress by its bipartisan co-sponsors Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Maxine Waters (D-CA).

If the proposed legislation passed as currently drafted, the new law would prohibit a State from using eminent domain for private development where a State had received federal economic development funds. The proposed law would also prohibit eminent domain by a federal agency where the purpose of the taking would be a promote “economic development”, which was found to be constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the famous (some might say infamous) Kelo v. City of New London decision from 2005. A similar bill had been passed by the House of Representatives in 2005 but never moved through the U.S. Senate.

An Institute for Justice staff attorney and a New Jerseyian from Long Branch, Lori Ann Vendetti, were scheduled to testify this week in support of the legislation. For more information on the Institute’s efforts, and the status of the legislation, click here.

Also check out Norman Oder’s blog post on the proposed legislation in the Atlantic Yards Report, available here.