ROBIN HOOD IN REVERSE
I am drafting a bill to help protect “Mr. and Mrs. Alaska” from local and state government abuse of private property rights. The legislation is a quick response to U.S. Supreme Court decision that now permits the government to replace your home with a big box store through condemnation (eminent domain) to increase property tax revenue to the government.
The term for the court’s outrageous 5 to 4 court decision is “judicial thievery.” It’s a kind of “Robin Hood in Reverse.” As stated in the scathing dissent by the Supreme Court minority, “The beneficiaries of this decision are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process" and that "the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more." Under the court ruling, a private homeowner is in a losing position if a bad developer and a bad planning commission act in cahoots.
However, there’s good news. The court decision allows states to enact legislation outlawing the taking of private property for economic development - and that’s exactly what I want to happen in Alaska.
I’m also researching the issue of “taking of property by regulation.” Taking of property by regulation happens when government involuntary downzones or restricts the way property can be developed after property has been purchased. This amounts to an involuntary taking of private property in the form of loss of property value and, like the eminent domain debacle, can be an abuse of property rights.
Private property rights shouldn’t have a political party label. Every conservative, liberal, and moderate - and everybody in between - needs to help get this legislation passed. I know Rep. Lesil McGuire is also preparing a bill, and I welcome that. We will either submit individual bills, or work together to combine the best of both bills into one. Appropriate legislation needs to be introduced and passed when the legislature goes back into session January 2006. That’s more important than which legislator has their name on the bill.
The term for the court’s outrageous 5 to 4 court decision is “judicial thievery.” It’s a kind of “Robin Hood in Reverse.” As stated in the scathing dissent by the Supreme Court minority, “The beneficiaries of this decision are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process" and that "the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more." Under the court ruling, a private homeowner is in a losing position if a bad developer and a bad planning commission act in cahoots.
However, there’s good news. The court decision allows states to enact legislation outlawing the taking of private property for economic development - and that’s exactly what I want to happen in Alaska.
I’m also researching the issue of “taking of property by regulation.” Taking of property by regulation happens when government involuntary downzones or restricts the way property can be developed after property has been purchased. This amounts to an involuntary taking of private property in the form of loss of property value and, like the eminent domain debacle, can be an abuse of property rights.
Private property rights shouldn’t have a political party label. Every conservative, liberal, and moderate - and everybody in between - needs to help get this legislation passed. I know Rep. Lesil McGuire is also preparing a bill, and I welcome that. We will either submit individual bills, or work together to combine the best of both bills into one. Appropriate legislation needs to be introduced and passed when the legislature goes back into session January 2006. That’s more important than which legislator has their name on the bill.
posted by Blogs by Rep Bob Lynn | 6:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home