Veto Of Property Rights Bill Leaves Farm Bureau “Dumbfounded”

June 16, 2007

KWTX Channel 10

Kenneith Dierschke, president of the Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau, issued a statement Saturday expressing disappointment over Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to veto House Bill 2006, a bureau-backed measure intended to restore certain protections for property owners involved in eminent domain proceedings.

“The property owners of Texas are dumbfounded that a governor from Paint Creek, Texas could veto the most important property rights legislation in more than a decade,” Dierschke said.

“When the Texas Farm Bureau Board of directors met with him earlier in the session, the governor agreed that eminent domain needed to be fixed,” Dierschke said.

“The taking of private property has become far too easy in this state. Obviously, there are many powerful interests that prefer it stay that way,” he said.

Perry, however, said the bill lawmakers sent to him included two amendments that “would provide a financial windfall for condemnation lawyers at taxpayers’ expense.”

“The state and local government would be over-paying to acquire land through eminent domain in order to enrich a finite number of condemnation lawyers at the expense of Texas taxpayers,” Perry said.

“This bill will slow down and shut down needed construction projects through the creation of a new category of damages that are beyond the pale of reason.”

He said he received letters from “almost ever fast-growth city and county asking him to veto the bill.”

“As someone who grew up in rural Texas, and farmed our family’s piece of land, I am a strong proponent of protecting private property rights,” Perry said.

“But the issue is one of fairness to taxpayers, who will get fleeced in order to benefit condemnation lawyers.”

FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. CorridorWatch.org is making this article available for academic research purposes in our non-commercial, non-profit, effort to advance the understanding of government accountability, civil liberties, citizen rights, social and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. CorridorWatch.org does not express or imply that CorridorWatch.org holds any claim of copyright on such material as may appear on this page.