February 20, 2006

During the Conference of Mayors annual Winter Meeting in Washington, the Conference Executive Committee adopted an emergency resolution on eminent domain which urges that under our federal system, state and local use of eminent domain be regarded fundamentally as a state and local matter which should be addressed by the political process at the state and local level. It also urges that no further changes be made to the rules governing eminent domain until the Government Accountability Office completes and submits a report on the national study it’s required to conduct on state and local use of eminent domain, and until after Congress has held comprehensive hearings. The resolution is sponsored by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, along with 18 other mayors from around the nation who are concerned that the Senate may take action before the study is complete on proposals imposing severe restriction on state and local use of eminent domain.

The House has already adopted and referred to the Senate for action a very restrictive proposal (H.R. 4128), which would prohibit state and local use of eminent domain for economic development. Another similar proposal, S.1313 is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Executive Committee acts on emergency resolutions between our Annual Meeting of the Conference of Mayors when the normal policy process for adopting resolutions occurs.

Download the resolution.