Regulatory Takings




Howie Rich from New York City has been pushed into the limelight in the face of big questions about his intentions around what he and his cronies call "regulatory takings." This dangerous and extreme law would require government to pay people to obey state regulations. If the state can't afford to pay, the regulation is waived. Does that sound like "takings" to you?

In fact these provisions are not "takings" at all, but more like "givings." They give special rights to big landowners and developers, whose demands for compensation cannot be met by local governments, and who will use the new laws to remove all barriers to runaway sprawl.

That's not all. Howie and his cronies are deceptively using arguments against the US Supreme Court ruling that local governments can use eminent domain to seize property for private interests - a legitimate point of discussion - to sneak this pay-or-waive scheme onto the ballot in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Montana and Washington.

The irony of Howie Rich from New York City using "property rights" as a mask for this scheme is that the hidden provisions will ruin property values across the board. Think about it: if your neighbor wants to sell his house to a big box store, and the zoning regulations can't do a thing to stop it, how will that affect your neighborhood?

What are the consequences of these measures? Look no further than Oregon. They passed a pay-or-waive law in 2004 called Prop 37, which has resulted in a gridlock of claims for compensation totalling more than $5,500,000,000! Naturally, Oregon can't pay for all of them.

And that is the whole point. Howie Rich from New York City doesn't want government to pay - he wants the state laws that protect your community to be eliminated.

In one fell swoop.