The House Appropriations subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety met this morning to discuss House Bill 1268, Eminent Domain amendment to the NC Constitution.
Bill sponsors are Rep Paul Stam, R Wake and Rep David Lewis, R Harnett. There is a PCS to the original bill. The Speaker asked that the bill be heard. It went to appropriations because of concerns with the cost of a special election. The date of the referendum was changed to May 2010, the next statewide election and would not cost the state additional money to hold a special election.
A similar bill was introduced in 2007, which passed the House (with over 100 members voting yes) but never got thru the Senate. This one is a very similar bill – this one is less wordy and has same legal effect.
There has been a procedural problem in transferring the bill to the committee, something that will be ironed out this afternoon, and will bring the bill in compliance and properly before the committee for a vote. So with very little debate this morning, the bill will be voted on later today, probably around Chairman Love’s, D Lee, desk after session.
There was no indication, at least in this committee, that the bill will have any problems. The anticipated problems are in the Senate where the 2007 bill hit a brick wall.
