Property Rights Are A Basic Principle of Liberty

You heard about this incident on Leland Conway and Glenn Beck. Virginia is the Birthplace of Freedom. We set the standards for others to emulate and meet. The incident which generated this legislation was the best example of power-mad officious little pricks getting their jollies threatening landowners, farmers and small rural businesses.

JOIN VIRGINIANS FLOCKING TO SUPPORT THE BONETA BILL The Boneta Bill, HB 1430, DEFENDS SMALL FARMERS;   REDUCES GOVERNMENT INTRUSION ON CITIZENS AND BUSINESSES Martha Boneta’s small farm shop is shut down and the fruits of her labor -- herbal teas from her garden, handcrafted soaps from her goats’ milk, and wool crafts from her alpacas, llamas, and sheep -- are going unsold. Why? Martha is facing a $5,000 fine for hosting a birthday party on her private property for eight 10-year-old girls without a “special” permit from Fauquier County. Martha also was threatened with two additional $5,000 fines for other supposed infractions:  One for advertising a pumpkin carving and another for operating the small shop on her property where Martha sold her fresh produce and handmade crafts.  A Fauquier County bureaucrat told Martha that she was “out of line.”  But Virginians know that it’s Fauquier County that’s out of line. That’s why citizens from around the Commonwealth are coming out in droves to support Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter and his House Bill 1430, the Boneta Bill, for the relief of Martha and small farmers like her. Delegate Lingamfelter (R-31 Prince William and Fauquier) introduced the legislation to strengthen Virginia’s Right to Farm Act (VRFA) and protects farmers like Martha against future encroachments by local government. In 2012, seventy-five percent of Virginians voted to protect property rights in a state ballot initiative, and the Boneta Bill reflects that sentiment that government is going too far.  The Boneta Bill has galvanized property rights advocates, supporters of the free market, and all who cherish our Constitutional freedoms.   Delegate Lingamfelter has met with the Farm Bureau and invited them to the table to help improve the bill.  Delegate Lingamfelter doesn’t care who gets the credit for the legislation. He cares about getting relief for Martha and other farmers and citizens whose lives are being invaded by all levels of government.

Make Your Voice Heard
The House of Delegate Agriculture Subcommittee will hold a hearing in the General Assembly Building, 1000 Bank Street, Richmond, VA.  The hearing will be held in the 5th Floor East Conference Room at 5:00 PM on Monday, January 28th. It will be essential to continue to get citizens from every part of the Commonwealth out to demonstrate widespread support for the HB 1430, The Boneta Bill. Please join us on Monday, January 28th at 5:00 PM and stand beside Martha Boneta and Delegate Scott Lingamfelter as they fight to get this bill out of the committee and on the House Floor for a vote.

Written Comments
In addition to joining us on Monday, January 28th at 5:00 PM, we will be collecting written emails which you can email me directly at slingamfelter@scottforva.com.  Send them to me and I will ensure the committee receives your emails.  Please take a few moments to write down your thoughts and let the committee know that you don’t want any level of government overstepping and limiting of our rights as individuals, small businesses, and property owners.

"No other rights are safe where property is not safe." - Daniel Webster

Victoria Cobb, President
Thursday, November 1, 2012
 

Give Props to Property Rights

While voting for federal offices next Tuesday, there will also be two constitutional amendments that Virginians will be deciding, both of which are supported by The Family Foundation Action.

The most significant, Question 1, will protect private property from abuses by the government’s power of eminent domain.  The government’s power to take property for “public use” was expanded by the Supreme Court in 2005 to include as a public use things like increasing tax revenue, a threat not only to private landowners but also to churches and religious institutions.  After all, religious organizations like churches don’t pay property taxes.  Replacing those buildings with strip malls or Wal-Marts that pay taxes and feed local coffers is a temptation some local government officials simply can’t control.  In addition, government often doesn’t compensate landowners for their actual financial loss when their property is seized or access to their property infringed.

To address this, after years of debate and effort, the General Assembly this year finally passed legislation putting a property rights constitutional amendment on the ballot.  While support for property rights is strong, a coalition of organizations that support property rights, including The Family Foundation, the Virginia Farm Bureau, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and others, are working to make sure Virginians understand how important it is to support this crucial ballot initiative.

For years, the government has been undercompensating Virginians when their property is seized by eminent domain, leaving citizens with no recourse.  Some politicians and groups opposed to Question 1 have argued that it will end up costing taxpayers more money for projects like road construction, which is a tacit admission that the state has been ripping property owners off for years!  The truth is that property owners should receive just compensation when their property is seized or affected by these projects.

If those aren’t reasons enough, just know that many newspaper editorial boards and the Democrat Party of Virginia have come out opposed to the amendment.  The Staunton News Leader’s opinion piece ridiculously calls the amendment nothing more than “another emotional, red meat issue, to rile voters.”  Our fundamental right to private property to these people has become “red meat.”  Of course, they’d probably say the same thing about religious liberty.

The biggest obstacle to the amendment’s passage is not being aware that it’s on the ballot.  When most people hear about it, they want to vote for it.  The more people who know about it now, the more likely it will pass, so please share this information.  Click here for more about the amendment and to hear a radio ad in favor of the amendment from our friends at the Virginia Farm Bureau.

The protection of property rights was a principle critical to our Founders’ vision of America.  Unfortunately, as with many of our founding principles, it’s up to the citizens to remind government that we still believe in and want those principles to be enforced.

Vote Yes! on Question 1 next Tuesday.


Paid for by The Family Foundation Action and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

SJ3-On the Ballot For Novemeber

SJ 3 Constitutional amendment; taking or damaging of private property for public use (second reference). Mark D. Obenshain | all patrons ... notes | add to my profiles another bill?Log inLIS Home- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Bills & ResolutionsMembersCommitteesMeetingsCalendarsCommunicationsMinutesStatisticsLobbyist-in-a-Box Summary as passed Senate: (all summaries) Constitutional amendment (second resolution); taking or damaging of private property; public use. Revises the prohibition on the enactment by the General Assembly of laws whereby private property may be taken or damaged. An existing provision authorizing the General Assembly to define what constitutes a public use is removed. The proposed amendment provides that private property can be taken or damaged only for a public use, only with just compensation to the owner, and only so much taken as is necessary for the public use. Just compensation must equal or exceed the value of the property taken, lost profits and lost access, and damages to the residue caused by the taking. A public service company, public service corporation, or railroad exercises the power of eminent domain for public use when such exercise is for the authorized provision of utility, common carrier, or railroad services. In all other cases, a taking or damaging of private property is not for public use if the primary use is for private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue, or economic development, except for the elimination of a public nuisance existing on the property. The condemnor bears the burden of proving that the use is public, without a presumption that it is. The Resolution incorporates SJ 67 and SJ 117. Full text: 11/21/11 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/12 12100006D pdf | impact statement 01/31/12 Senate: Committee substitute printed 12104981D-S1 pdf 03/15/12 Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ3ER) pdf 04/10/12 Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0738) pdf Status: 11/21/11 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/12 12100006D 11/21/11 Senate: Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections 01/31/12 Senate: Reported from Privileges and Elections with substitute (13-Y 2-N) 01/31/12 Senate: Committee substitute printed 12104981D-S1 02/01/12 Senate: Incorporates SJ67 02/01/12 Senate: Incorporates SJ117 02/02/12 Senate: Read first time 02/03/12 Senate: Read second time 02/03/12 Senate: Passed by for the day 02/06/12 Senate: Read second time 02/06/12 Senate: Passed by for the day 02/07/12 Senate: Passed by for the day 02/08/12 Senate: Passed by for the day 02/09/12 Senate: Passed by for the day 02/10/12 Senate: Read second time 02/10/12 Senate: Reading of substitute waived 02/10/12 Senate: Committee substitute agreed to 12104981D-S1 02/10/12 Senate: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SJ3S1 02/13/12 Senate: Read third time and agreed to by Senate (23-Y 16-N) 02/13/12 Senate: Reconsideration of passage agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/13/12 Senate: Agreed to by Senate (23-Y 17-N) 02/15/12 House: Placed on Calendar 02/15/12 House: Read first time 02/15/12 House: Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections 02/16/12 House: Assigned P & E sub: Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee 02/27/12 House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N) 03/02/12 House: Reported from Privileges and Elections (20-Y 2-N) 03/06/12 House: Taken up 03/06/12 House: Agreed to by House (83-Y 17-N) 03/06/12 House: VOTE: ADOPTION (83-Y 17-N) 03/15/12 Senate: Enrolled 03/15/12 Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ3ER) 03/15/12 House: Signed by Speaker 03/17/12 Senate: Signed by President 04/09/12 House: Assigned Chapter 738 (effective - see bill) 04/10/12 Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0738)