MCPR weighs in on the Hobbs Bill

Missouri Citizens for Property Rights has released an analysis of the Hobbs legislation. In a press release, MCPR highlighted a particularly troubling provision:

The group was particularly critical of the bill's provision for private companies direct use of eminent domain. Under the bill, non-government entities, like “common carriers” and privately owned, for profit, utility companies, would be vested with their own eminent domain powers. The property rights group's amendments, however, would allow only the government to use eminent domain on behalf of certain regulated privately owned utility purposes, with limitations on the use and ownership of the taken property.

In spite of their differences with the bill, MO-CPR is pleased with the advancements the bill makes in valuation and procedural issues when eminent domain is used for legitimate purposes. “We're not opposed to this bill,” Calzone said, “we just firmly believe that any statutory fixes must be accompanied by complementary constitutional remedies.”