PATRICK MARMION: After nearly three hours spent bearing witness to the Elton John musical about American TV evangelist and gay icon Tammy Faye Messner, I said a little prayer.
Eminent domain always a contentious issue in Texas became a political flashpoint in recent years due to Kinder Morgan s 423-mile Permian Highway Pipeline that runs through the Texas Hill Country. Credit:
The Texas Legislature approved a bill early Thursday
that will revise eminent domain negotiations between landowners and companies such as railroads, pipeline and utility companies that are seeking to condemn land, requiring that landowners be given the terms of the contract up front, as well as more information about the eminent domain process.
After six years of heated negotiations between groups that represent landowners and the groups that represent big pipeline, utility, railroad, and oil and gas companies, the Legislature passed a limited version of a bill that failed in 2019.
After failing last session, lawmakers finalized a bill described as a “delicate compromise” that provides new protections for landowners in negotiating with companies attempting to seize their land through eminent domain.