Florida Legislature Passes Strong Eminent Domain Protections!

It’s a good month for property owners! This week, Governor Jeb Bush signed House Joint Resolution 1567, which passed the State Senate by a margin of 37-3. It passed unanimously by 113-0 in the House. The resolution would prevent municipal governments from seizing private property and redistributing it to other private parties. In other words, eminent domain powers would be limited only for "public use," as it actually requires in the Florida and US Constitution. See more from the excellent Institute for Justice.

One can’t but reflect on the recent spate of good news as a reaction the challenge the liberal majority in Kelo posed to state governments. The Kelo 5 told state governements to enforce our constitutional rights to private property because the federal judiciary wasn’t going to do it. Grassroots activism is necessary to protect our grass and picket fences from tax-hungry municipal governments.

But the struggle isn’t over. We have many many more states to go on this issue. Judging by the victories in Oklahoma and Florida, we are on a good pace.