Bill Description: Senate Bill 1044 prevents unelected urban renewal boards from exercising the power of eminent domain.

Rating: +1

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

Senate Bill 1044 amends sections 7-701A and 50-2006, Idaho Code, to prevent urban renewal boards with members who are appointed rather than elected from exercising the power of eminent domain. Under this bill, urban renewal boards with unelected members may act only in an advisory capacity, and "any final decision on the use of eminent domain shall be made by the local governing body that created the urban renewal agency."

While reducing the power of urban renewal boards and reducing the use of eminent domain are positive steps, there is still significant room for improvement. Both urban renewal and eminent domain are unsound concepts that inescapably infringe on the property rights in all cases. 

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