Voters to decide on constitutional amendments

PROPOSITION 11: Prohibits governments from taking private property for private economic development to increase a tax base. It also limits the Legislature’s power to grant eminent domain authority to a governmental entity.

That is good.

A step in the right direction but still not enough. Oil/gas pipeline companies can still take your property by eminent domain and only pay per acre price for the actual surface area affected. A pipeline can ruin a piece of property and the land owner often times takes a financial beating.

Yea ... I'd be the guy going to jail for destroying the pipeline on my property.

I hate eminent domain.

A Rational Thinker wrote:

PROPOSITION 11: Prohibits governments from taking private property for private economic development to increase a tax base. It also limits the Legislature’s power to grant eminent domain authority to a governmental entity.
That is good.

I like. I have seen this stunt pulled by municipalities, in one case an up-scale town attempting to take over a Black town AFTER a major lake was built near it. Prior to this "municipal jingoism" they wanted nothing to do with the town or it's people. The Black town won in court, by the way, but the racket goes on. Tiny towns with hundreds and even thousands of square miles taken in simply to expand the tax base.

A gas pipeline for the good of all? I'd have to consider that on a case-by-case basis. Public utilities are a bit of an exception...government condemnation to build a shopping center as they did in Florida is VERY different.

A Rational Thinker wrote:

PROPOSITION 11: Prohibits governments from taking private property for private economic development to increase a tax base. It also limits the Legislature’s power to grant eminent domain authority to a governmental entity.
That is good.

Comments by Opponents. The proposed amendment attempts to
address problems that largely were resolved statutorily. Allowing Texas courts more time to review and further define the state’s current eminent domain laws could resolve many lingering concerns about the extent of protections for property owners under the existing laws, while placing the proposed changes in the Texas Constitution would make them permanent,for all practical purposes, and any unintended effects could impede legitimate eminent domain actions that are necessary for state and local
public projects.

The proposed amendment is an important first
step in accomplishing the eminent domain reform that is needed in Texas, but it would not adequately protect property owners because it would not clearly define acceptable uses of eminent domain. Additional protections
should be enacted, including compensation for lost access to property, the payment of a fair market price, and the right to repurchase land that
is taken for one purpose and used for another.