By James Girards
On March 18, 2015 we drew attention to a very important bill in the Texas legislature that would level the playing field between Texas landowners and the large multi-national corporations that can take your land with impunity and pay pennies on the dollar for it -- all without the consent of the landowners. The bill is simple and it is fair. It says that if the corporation that takes your land by eminent domain doesn't offer you a fair price for it, they may have to pay the attorneys fees you incur to get a fair price at the courthouse. The bill has now passed the Senate and is stuck in committee in the Texas House -- and the authors of the bill need your help to get it passed out of the house and called for a vote on the floor of the Texas House. The bill is SB474 and it is in the House Land and Resource Management Committee. It needs to be called for a vote ASAP because the clock is running out. The bill was heard in a lengthy hearing that went well into the night two-nights ago and the big foreign pipeline companies sent all their henchmen there to lean on the committee members pretty hard. So, please take a moment and call each member of the committee and leave a message that you support SB474 and encourage the committee to vote it out of committee as soon as possible. The members of the committee and their phone numbers are listed below:
Rep. Joe Deshotel (512) 463-0662
Rep. Cecil Bell (512) 463-0650
Rep. Ed Thompson (512) 463-0707
Rep. John Cyrier (512) 463-0682
Rep. Matt Krause (512) 463-0562
Rep. Eddie Lucio III (512) 463-0606
Rep. Scott Sanford (512) 463-0356