Eminent domain activists will be closely watching California’s June ballot as competing initiatives could literally rewrite the landscape. California is among the 29 states that haven’t enacted significant eminent domain reform since Kelo.

Californians for Private Property Rights and other activists support the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act, while a coalition including the League of California Cities and League of California Homeowners have put forth the Homeowner and Private Property Protection Act. A 2006 eminent domain initiative, Proposition 90, failed by 8 percentage points (54-46); some say that was because it was too broad.

Supporters of each bill claim that the other is a poison pill. CPRP Marko Mlikotin says that HPPPA contains numerous loopholes designed to weaken the reforms and continue business as usual; League of California Homeowners president Ken Willis claims that CPOFPA’s provisions will end rent control and water down environmental regulations.

The Institute for Justice’s Castle Coalition favors the CPOFPA initiative: “It’s broad-based and nondiscriminatory,” says director Steven Anderson. “It will affect everyone no matter what kind of property you own. The League of Cities’ initiative only protects owner-occupied properties, which leaves renters, farms, churches and small businesses still in danger.”

You can download and read PDFs of the full text of both ballot initiatives by clicking on the links below.

California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act

Homeowner and Private Property Protection Act

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