The new mantra for the purported defenders of property rights in Texas is transparency, accountability, and fairness. A recent article by Gordon Sauer, director, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, serves as a example.
Sauer writes:
In virtually every other area of public policy, there is a mechanism for the public to speak out and ask questions… The same cannot be said for private pipeline and transmission line companies who use the threat of eminent domain to obtain property, often for prices far below what it would pay without the eminent domain subsidy. The executives who run these companies are not accountable to the citizens of Texas, only to their investors, making an open and transparent process even more vital to ensure it is not abused for the betterment of their bottom line.
Sauer and his fellow travelers would like us to believe that requiring private companies to hold public hearings will somehow protect property rights.
The right to property means the freedom to create, attain, use, keep, and trade material values. But eminent domain forces owners to “sell” their property regardless of their own desires. And no amount of public hearings changes this fact.
Certainly, making the process more transparent may provide property owners with more compensation when their land is seized. But their land will still be seized. Their freedom to trade their property as they choose will have been violated.
The problem with the use of eminent domain by private companies isn’t a lack of transparency, accountability, and fairness. The problem is the use of eminent domain to seize private property. If legislators are serious about protecting property rights, then they would repeal laws that give eminent domain powers to private companies.