For Immediate Release: October 10, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO – California needs eminent-domain and regulatory-takings protections according to a new voter-education pamphlet published today by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI). “Proposition 90: Righting Property Wrongs,” authored by Steven Greenhut, senior editorial writer and columnist for the Orange County Register, outlines why the Protect Our Homes Initiative (Prop. 90) provides important safeguards for California property owners.

Prop. 90 would dramatically limit the uses of eminent domain by governments by allowing them to use this power only for genuine public uses. It would require higher payments of “just compensation” even in legitimate public uses, give property owners an opportunity to contest the taking in a jury trial before the property is taken, and would require governments to pay compensation for downzoning and other regulatory takings.

“Prop. 90’s opponents are focusing on supposed technical flaws, but the real reason for their angst is clear: The bond dealers, developers, government organizations, and environmental groups that are fighting the initiative know that it will make their life more difficult and less profitable as they pursue plans that trample on constitutional property rights protections,” said Steven Greenhut.

According to “Righting Property Wrongs”, Prop. 90 would offer the following meaningful protections:

• Limit eminent domain to public use and defines public use in the traditional, constitutional manner
  
  
• Tighten the current definition of blight, which currently gives governments too much leeway in condemning property
  
  
• Promote due process by providing a jury trial before the taking and requiring governments to provide government appraisal information to property owners
  
  
• Promote just compensation by requiring valuation to be done at the highest and best use and requiring that property owners are made whole
  
  
• Require the government to pay compensation for property damage, except for health and safety reasons

“Prop. 90 will go a long way toward righting some terrible property wrongs, and toward rebuilding rights that have been severely eroded in California,” said Mr. Greenhut.

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About PRI
For 27 years, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has championed freedom, opportunity, and individual responsibility through free-market policy solutions. PRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. For more information please visit our web site at www.pacificresearch.org