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Property rights big issue in upcoming session...
Each time the Texas Legislature convenes in Austin, Texas Farm Bureau finds itself in a struggle to prevent the erosion of private property rights.
"Erosion" is definitely the right term for what happens. Each session there are numerous bills filed to fix "local" problems. However, when you put all these bills together and consider the total impact, you find that landowners across Texas are losing their rights, little by little.
There is no single big enemy in this fight. Cities, counties, utility districts, state agencies, and other local governmental entities are all coming to the legislature asking for a local law to fix their local problem. 2005 will be no different. Or will it? There are several issues that impact private property rights that Texas Farm Bureau can champion to take back some of those rights.
The House Committee on Land and Resource Management has just completed a study of annexation by cities. The report recommends ensuring people have a voice in whether or not they are annexed. Legislation is sure to follow. This creates an opportunity to give landowners options to annexation. The legislation could require a vote by the people to be annexed into the city, or the right to negotiate a non-annexation agreement with agricultural landowners. Whatever the vehicle, TFB cannot pass up this opportunity to chip away at the authority of cities to continuously increase in size.
"Land vacancy" is a term foreign to most Texans. However, after this year, the residents of Upshur and Smith counties are virtually experts on this issue. "Land vacancy" occurs where the surveys of land don't meet each other, creating empty spaces between parcels of land called a vacancy. Sounds simple, but it gets complicated because vacant land, where there is no legal landowner, belongs to the state of Texas. The state offers a financial incentive, in the form of a percentage of the mineral royalty, for those who find these vacancies for the state—which, in effect, creates "bounty hunters." The problem arises when families have lived on these lands for generations only to find that someone has claimed they do not really own their land. Once this claim is made, the burden of proving ownership is on the landowner. Because of the issue in Northeast Texas, the time has come to make this process fairer for landowners and harder for the "bounty hunters." We will keep you informed on this issue as it progresses through the legislature. Hopefully, Texas Farm Bureau, through member support, can stop this type of land grab in the future.
Please keep an eye out for our future reports on these issues. The Texas Legislature only meets for 140 days beginning Jan. 11. In this short timeframe, windows of opportunity can close quickly. If our grassroots movement is to be effective on these issues, our members must be ready to act.
