Sunday, February 25, 2007
Assembly restricts eminent domain
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The latest from our Blue Ridge Caucus politics blog
From The Roanoke Times
RICHMOND -- After more than a year of work on the issue, the General Assembly on Saturday passed legislation that restricts government's power to seize private property by invoking eminent domain.
The Senate and House of Delegates agreed on bills that define "public uses" under which government can take private property, stripping out a Senate provision that would give housing and redevelopment authorities greater ability to condemn property in blighted areas.
The passage of House Bill 2954 and Senate Bill 1296 nearly completes lawmakers' efforts to strengthen eminent domain restrictions in the wake of a 2005 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. New London. In that case, the court upheld a Connecticut city's condemnation of a homeowner's property for a private development project.
The bills define five "public uses" for which private property can be taken. The legislation allows eminent domain for eliminating blight, but only if the property itself is blighted.
The bills would not affect current plans of redevelopment and housing authorities if they file petitions for condemnation by July 1, 2009.
Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, said the legislation should not pose a major burden on the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, but said the authority would have preferred no restrictions.
"I think the grandfather clause should allay most of their concerns," Edwards said. "I think they can live within the parameters of the statute, and if not we can come back and look at it another year and see if tinkering needs to be done."
-- Michael Sluss and Mason Adams
Payday lending
The General Assembly failed to pass a bill to apply more restrictions to payday lenders by the time it adjourned Saturday. As a result, said the bill's sponsor, the short-term lending industry will likely go unregulated for another decade.
Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax County, said that parties on various sides of the issue could not come to an agreement on Senate Bill 1014, which would have limited a borrower to three outstanding loans at a time and make extended payment plans available to customers with multiple loans. The legislation also would have set up a statewide database to ensure borrowers met eligibility requirements.
Saslaw had accepted changes the House applied to the bill, but changed his mind and put it into conference after Gov. Tim Kaine hinted he'd amend the measure to include an interest rate cap. He said he wanted to come to an agreement before the end of the session or he'd let the bill die.
"Each side got as far as it could go and that was it," Saslaw said.
Payday lenders preferred SB 1014 to other bills that tried to repeal the 2002 law allowing lenders to offer short-term loans of up to $500 at interest rates far greater than the 36 percent annual rate applied to other Virginia financial institutions.
Critics argue payday lending lures cash-strapped borrowers into a debt cycle. Saslaw said the failure to reach a compromise on SB 1014 likely meant legislators will in the future focus on repeal instead of reform.
"Next year nobody's going to put in a reform bill," he said. "The bills put in will be the repeal bills or interest-cap bills, and they don't have a prayer in the world of getting out of either committee. Essentially, probably for the next decade, that industry will have no regulation at all."
Kaine was disappointed that no bill reached his desk.
"There continues to be a need for very real reform of this industry," Kaine said. "They can pull the bill this year. I guess it was Joe Louis who said, 'They can run but they can't hide.' "
--Mason Adams and Michael Sluss
Regret over slavery
With little fanfare, the General Assembly on Saturday agreed to a resolution expressing "profound regret" for Virginia's role in sanctioning slavery and other forms of discrimination against blacks and American Indians.
Without opposition, the House of Delegates and Senate passed two identical resolutions on an issue that briefly stirred controversy early in the legislative session.
House Joint Resolution 728 and Senate Joint Resolution 332 were timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement. The measures note "with profound regret the involuntary servitude of African and the exploitation of native Americans." They also call "for racial reconciliation among all Virginians."
"I'm humbled, as the great-grandson of a former slave, to have been able to be the chief patron of this legislation in this legislature, which had so much to do with the institution of slavery in times past," said Del. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico County.
Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, sponsored the Senate resolution.
The original resolution called for an apology for slavery. A controversy erupted last month when Del. Frank Hargrove, R-Hanover County, said an apology is unwarranted because today's Virginians had nothing to do with slavery. Hargrove angered some black lawmakers when he said black Virginians should "get over" slavery.
But on Saturday, McEachin was celebrating unanimous approval of the two resolutions. "I think it speaks volumes about the good will of the members of the General Assembly," he said.
-- Michael Sluss
