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Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation
Agricultural News and Information
Greg Gibson, Coordinator
Public Relations / Multimedia
1-800-227-8244 ext. 4154
or 601-977-4154
email: ggibson@msfb.org
Farm Bureau: All Mississippians Lost
JACKSON – The Mississippi Senate today failed to override Governor Barbour’s veto of House Bill 803 dealing with private property rights. The vote was 28-22 in favor of the motion but 34 votes were needed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority to override the Barbour veto.
“Overwhelmingly, the people of Mississippi are in favor of this legislation and I’m very disappointed that the senators voted not to override the veto today,” said Farm Bureau President David Waide. “This bill originally passed the Senate without a single dissenting vote. Our senators, all of whom voted FOR the bill originally, should have overridden the Governor’s veto but they didn’t.”
The U.S. Supreme court ruled in Kelo v. City of New London that anyone’s home or business can be taken through eminent domain if the government thinks someone else can make more money with the land. To limit that ruling, House Bill 803 placed restrictions on eminent domain proceedings by not allowing the taking of private property for economic development purposes.
“The idea that the state could take your land from you because it thinks you aren’t doing enough with it is absurd,” said Waide. “Forty-three states have enacted new laws or adopted constitutional amendments aimed at preventing Kelo-type takings. Most of these reform measures have focused primarily on tightening the definition of “public use” to exclude economic development projects. Because of the action of the Senate today, all Mississippians lost.”
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