Support SB 474 and stop Texas eminent domain abuse
Multibillion dollar, for profit pipeline companies are using eminent domain to take land from Texans without negotiation or just compensation. Ordinary Texans have no recourse against the army of corporate lawyers.
Monday the State Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on SB 474 which requires the condemning authority to pay the legal fees of the victims. While this bill is not as strong as we would like, it’s a step in the right direction that gives Texas landowners a better chance in court.
TAKE ACTION:
The most effective thing YOU can do is show up in Austin and speak at the hearing.
COMMITTEE: State Affairs
TIME & DATE: 9:00 AM, Monday, March 09, 2015
PLACE: Senate Chamber
CHAIR: Senator Joan HuffmanPublic testimony will be limited to 3 minutes. If submitting written testimony, please provide 20 copies to the committee clerk with your name on each.
If you can’t attend the hearing in person, please call the committee members TODAY!
Clerk: Ashley Brooks
Phone: (512) 463-0380Chair: Sen. Joan Huffman
District: 17
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0117
District Phone: (281) 980-3500Vice Chair:: Sen. Rodney Ellis
District: 13
Capitol Office: CAP 3E.6
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0113
District Phone: (713) 236-0306Members:
Sen. Brian Birdwell
District: 22
Capitol Office: EXT E1.706
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0122
District Phone: (254) 772-6225Sen. Brandon Creighton
District: 4
Capitol Office: EXT E1.606
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0104
District Phone: (409) 838-9861Sen. Craig Estes
District: 30
Capitol Office: CAP 3E.18
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0130
District Phone: (940) 689-0191Sen. Troy Fraser
District: 24
Capitol Office: CAP 1E.12
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0124
District Phone: (254) 939-3562Sen. Jane Nelson
District: 12
Capitol Office: CAP 1E.5
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0112
District Phone: (817) 424-3446Charles Schwertner
District: 5
Capitol Office: EXT E1.806
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0105
District Phone: (979) 776-0222en.Sen. Judith Zaffirini
District: 21
Capitol Office: CAP 1E.14
Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0121
District Phone: (956) 722-2293
Tell them you support SB 474 to stop Texas eminent domain abuse.
Bill Excerpt: and a total of 46 states have a law that provides a method for a property holder to be compensated for fees. The bill is not designed to halt eminent domain proceedings, but rather to encourage fairer offers in an effort to avoid litigation altogether. S.B. 474 removes cost barriers that deter landowners from asserting their right to receive adequate compensation for their land, which compels the condemnor to explain the basis for their offer in a court of law.
You can bet the pipeline lobbyists are in Austin right now lobbying our lawmakers against this bill. But there are more of us than them.
It’s up to you!
Stop Texas eminent domain abuse!
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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This issue of how eminent domain issues are handled/paid for, and also how or if residents and landowners are “educated” about how “eminent domain” works – both legally and “economically – are very important.
For example the one academic study I know of concludes that when a pipeline company goes to eminent domain proceedings against a landowner, the payment the company is ordered to make is about 80% higher than if the companies offer is accepted.
Pipeliners do not like to use eminent domain and seem to try all sorts of deceptive messaging to landowners along the lines of “we will just take it anyway.”
Stan Scobie, Binghamton, NY