New Law Shields Montana Homeowners from Government Overreach

HELENA — Gov. Brian Schweitzer today signed into law a measure reinforcing safeguards that protect homeowners and small businesses from the abuse of government’s power to condemn private property. “This bill gives Montanans an extra degree of protection and helps secure their private property rights,” said Governor Schweitzer.

Lawmakers from both parties said Montana homes and property are now doubly safe from big business leveraging government to seize private property for corporate gain.

“The horror story that everybody worries about is some government taking your property and using it to build a Wal-Mart,” said Sen. David Lewis, R-Helena. “Now with this bill, we can be sure that that won’t happen in Montana.”

“In Montana, your home is your castle,” said Sen. Christine Kauffman, D-Helena. “We’ve never stood by the idea that government can take your property just to make way for a private development, and this law reaffirms that.”

The legislation, which passed with near unanimous support during an otherwise contentious legislative session, is a response to a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, called the “Kelo decision.” With the Kelo decision, the Supreme Court ruled local governments have the power to condemn private property in order to hand the land over to a developer, in that case Wal-Mart, in order to grow a tax base.

Dissatisfaction with the Kelo decision helped fuel a number of ballot initiatives across the country in 2006. Bankrolled by wealthy New York real estate mogul Howard Rich, the initiatives paired Kelo reform with a controversial provision to undercut local planning efforts. Voters in most states rejected the Rich-backed initiatives; a Montana version was tossed from the ballot due to widespread fraud in the signature gathering process.

“This law solves the Kelo problem without hamstringing Montana communities that want to plan for the future,” said Kauffman. “Voters take note: If someone tells you they want to protect you from Kelo, be suspicious. We’ve already solved that problem in Montana.”

While the 2007 Legislature has had its share of vigorous partisan debate, reform of eminent domain enjoyed nearly unanimous support from both sides of the aisle. Conservationists and homeowners applauded the Governor as he signed the new law at the Capital.

“Montanans have always protected property rights – just like they value protecting clean water and other things that belong to everyone,” said Bruce Farling, of Montana Trout Unlimited. “This bill demonstrates that Montanans can set their own future, without the meddling of wealthy out-of-state developers.”