Proposition 98: Eminent Domain
From Mobilize the Immigrant Vote
- What is it?
'Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. Constitutional Amendment.'
Right now, there is a practice called 'eminent domain' which allows local and state government to take and use private property for public projects such as housing, school or roads, if the property has been condemned, abandoned or damaged. Proposition 98 would make it more difficult for government to exercise eminent domain to build affordable housing, or other similar projects. It would also erase certain protections to renters, such as rent control, which caps the percentage that a landlord can raise a person's rent.
- What do supporters of Proposition 98 say?
Its supporters call it 'The California Property Owner and Farmland Protection Act'.
- Requires farmers or business owners who are evicted by eminent domain
the right to compensation for temporary business losses, relocation expenses, business reestablishment costs and other reasonable expenses
- Prohibits government from setting the price at which property owners
sell or lease their property. Allows property owners to define 'just compensation' for property taken from the government
- Requires government or public agencies to sell the property back to
the original owner at the original price if the property is seized under false pretenses or its original declared plans are abandoned. The property tax would then be assessed at the value of the property when it was originally condemned.
- Prevents governments from taking family farms and open space for the
purpose of selling the natural resources.
- What do opponents of Proposition 98 say?
Opponents of Proposition 98 call Proposition 98 “the Hidden Agendas Scheme”
- Eliminates rent control -- leaving low-income and fixed-income individuals
like seniors, the disabled, etc., who live in apartments and/or mobile home vulnerable to increased rents
- Guts renter protection laws, such as those requiring the fair return
of rental deposits and 60-day notices for evictions (forcing renters to move out of their housing)
- Nullifies laws that protect our land, air, and water if they cause expense
to the private owner, including laws that protect our neighborhoods and home values
- Who supports Proposition 98?
Taxpayer groups/Business/Housing Providers (partial list) California Republican Taxpayers Association, California Taxpayers Protection Committee, Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Apartment Association, California Southern Cities, Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA), Apartment Owner Association of California (AOA) Private Property Rights
- Who opposes Proposition 98?
Agriculture/Associations/Business/Community/Consumer/Education/Environmental/Faith/ Homeowners Housing Providers/Labor/ Public Interest/Renter Advocates/Safety/Senior/Water (Partial list)
AARP, California Police Chiefs Association, League of California Homeowners, Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League, Inc. (GSMOL), California Mobile Homes Resource and Action Association, Coalition of Mobile Home Owners- California Resident Owned Parks, Inc. (ROP), California Coalition for Rural Housing, Mobile Home Owners Coalition, Consumer Federation of California, California Black Chamber of Commerce, Western Growers Association, California Teachers Association, California Housing Consortium (CHC), California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Coalition to Protect California Renters, Coalition L.A., Eviction Defense Network, Housing Rights Center, Just Cause Oakland, Tenderloin Housing Clinic (THC), Sierra Club California, Association of California Water Agencies, League of Women Voters of California, Western Center on Law and Poverty, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties, California Church Impact, St. Anthony Foundation
