The eminent domain bill that defines the state’s definition of ‘public use’ in condemning land, is slowly working it’s way through the senate and will be before the full house this week.
The bill is in reaction to last year’s U-S Supreme Court ruling in the case Kelo vs. New London. The court found that it was appropriate public use for the local government to condemn several pieces of property for a private development, designed to spur economic growth in a depressed Connecticut region.
The Tennessee House is ready to vote on the bill but the senate is still tinkering with its version. Nashville Representative Rob Briley says the 7 amendments put on in the senate shouldn’t be too different from the house’s 17.
“We just need a chance to get the final products so we can compare the two, but I think a lot of the amendments from the senate are going to be consistent with what we’ve been doing in the house.”
Of the legislation filed relating to eminent domain this year, the one backed by the Tennessee Farm Bureau has become the main bill. It would mandate that no land may be taken except for several exceptions relating to removing ‘blight,’ but specifically stipulates that agricultural land can not be considered as such.
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