Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who recently announced he will be a candidate for governor in 2013, says he is “optimistic” that a constitutional amendment to protect the rights of property owners will be approved next year.
Cuccinelli, who introduced his first bill to protect property rights as a newly-elected state senator in 2004, spoke about the proposed amendment in an exclusive interview with the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner on December 13.
The attorney general was the featured speaker that day at the tenth anniversary meeting of the Tuesday Morning Group Coalition, a group of libertarian and conservative activists who gather each month to discuss policy issues and political strategy. The coalition meetings are sponsored by Tertium Quids, an advocacy group based in Augusta County.
Amendment ‘is going to roll’
Saying that this is the first time in seven years that he has felt confident about passage of the property rights amendment – which is intended to protect Virginia citizens against eminent domain abuse by state or local governments – Cuccinelli reiterated:
“I’m very optimistic we’re going to pass that amendment for the second time” by the General Assembly before “it’s going to go to the ballot” for approval by the Virginia electorate. In fact, Cuccinelli predicted, the measure will “get more votes than a bond [issue] in Arlington.”
The property rights amendment “is going to roll” to victory, he said.
Clarifying legislation
Cuccinelli explained, however, that passing an amendment, as important as he thinks it is, is not sufficient. There has to be complementary, clarifying legislation to assure that the rights of property owners are fully protected.
“The key hard work we have,” he said, “is in the ‘lost profits’ and in the ‘lost access’ statutes that we’re going to have to pass to accompany the constitutional amendment.”
Those laws would require government bodies to compensate property owners for more than just the cost of land or buildings that are taken for a public use. They would require compensation for business losses that result from the taking or the inconvenience that might occur, for instance, if a farmer’s land is cut in half by a highway that is built on land properly taken through eminent domain.
“We need to have [those bills] drafted and agreed to by the major constituencies before the amendment is voted on” in November, Cuccinelli explained, “so when the court interprets the statutes, it will be in light of the passage of the amendment.”
‘Greater certainty’
Amendment supporters, he said, “want it set up that way, so people have greater certainty. Whether they like the statutes or not, they’ll know what they’re getting.”
And, he added, “if they don’t like it, they can vote no.”
“That’s what an accountable form of government is supposed to do,” he noted.
Cuccinelli concluded by saying that, except for “that little wrinkle” -- the need for supplementary and explanatory legislation -- “I’m very optimistic.”
The bills to amend the constitution with property rights protections have been introduced in the House of Delegates by Charlottesville-area Delegate Rob Bell and in the state Senate by Senator Mark Obenshain of Harrisonburg. Both legislators are likely candidates for the Republican nomination to succeed Ken Cuccinelli as Attorney General in 2013.
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