Congratulations!

On Monday, the Minnesota Senate passed eminent domain reform 64-2. Your contacts with Senators have made all the difference.

The Bill passed by the Senate contains real reform measures, including:

• Review by the courts:
• Cities must prove their case at a high standard: "preponderance of the evidence"
• Ban on government's ability to take private property to transfer to another private owner, except in limited cases where the government needs to mitigate:

  • structurally substandard property
  • environmentally contaminated property
  • abandoned property
  • public nuisances

  
  (All these definitions are very tightly drawn)

• Right of first refusal for property owners to buy back property seized by the government, but no longer needed for public use.
• Attorney's fees for property owners who prove they have been lowballed by the government.
• Loss of going concern compensation for business owners totally destroyed by condemnation.
• City councils are required to vote on condemnations. They can no longer pass authority on to unelected bodies.
• Damages allowed for businesses that lose public access and suffer a loss of revenue.

The House version contains similar provisions and still has to go through the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Floor. A Conference Committee will likely be necessary to work out differences between the two bills.

Great Job!!
We are one step closer to real reform.