Two weeks ago, the Texas Senate passed HB 2730, an action that many are proclaiming as a victory for property rights. However, the bill is a non-victory because it does absolutely nothing to protect property rights.
The Texas Farm Bureau, which supported the bill, reports two positive aspects of the bill:
[A]n entity [using eminent domain] must provide in the initial offer, in plain writing, whether the offer includes damages to the remainder.
Another positive outcome of HB 2730 is required minimum easement terms that help landowners protect their property rights and negotiate offers that encompass the entire scope of an easement, from construction to future actions.
In other words, the bill requires entities, such as pipeline companies, to provide more information to property owners when eminent domain is used. But property rights are not about getting more information. Property rights are about the freedom to use and dispose of material values. The bill does nothing to protect the freedom to use and dispose of one’s property.
Certainly, providing property owners with more information may help them negotiate a better deal with a pipeline company. But what if the property owner doesn’t want to negotiate any deal? What if he doesn’t want a pipeline on his property? The bill does nothing to protect the property owner’s freedom to act on his choice. He will wind up with a pipeline on his property whether he wants it or not.
The goal of the bill is to help property owners receive “just compensation” when a pipeline is built on their property. But no amount of compensation is just if one party is forced to engage in the transaction.
That this is regarded as a victory for property rights illustrates just how misunderstood the right to property is. Forcing individuals to engage in a trade that they do not desire is not a victory for property rights. It is a gross violation of the right to property.
Much work remains to be done if we want to see property rights truly protected.