Angie Craig: “the bill talks about land, it talks about valuable farmland, it talks about valuable grazing land, and the issue is…”

“the bill talks about land, it talks about valuable farmland, it talks about valuable grazing land, and the issue is eminent domain. As we all know, the issue of eminent domain was elevated greatly as an issue following a highly controversial 2005 Supreme Court decision known as Kelo vs. The City of New London. Since that decision, we as a nation have allowed State governments and local municipalities to utilize eminent domain to force landowners to yield their property to private development. That is a new phenomenon in our country. That has not been and was not the historic use of eminent domain. We are talking about land that maybe generationally has served America's farmers and ranchers for the purpose of food and fiber. As shown in this picture, here is an example of a beautiful piece of pastureland in Camas County, ID, for which one day the county and/or a city in the area could decide: Oh, gee, we like it for open space. It is open space today. As I would suggest, the economics of today would suggest it will remain open space for a long time. But since the Supreme Court's Kelo ruling, farmers and ranchers in particular have become vulnerable to State and local municipalities taking their property for economic development, open space designations, or other purposes.”