Last week, Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for the Unified Government and other local governments to gain control of abandoned houses and give them to nonprofit agencies for rehabilitation.
The bill had split the Wyandotte County legislative delegation, with Rep. Stan Frownfelter, D-37th Dist., supporting it, and Sen. David Haley, D-4th DIst., opposing it. In debate in the Kansas House, many urban minority legislators joined opposition against the bill, which they said would have affected urban minority areas more than other areas.
In a veto message last week, Gov. Brownback stated that he was defending the principles of individual liberty and private property rights.
The governor issued the following statement:
“Government should protect property rights and ensure the less advantaged are not denied the liberty to which every citizen is entitled. Governmental authority to take property from one private citizen and give it to another private citizen should be limited, but this bill would have the effect of expanding such authority without adequate safeguards. The potential for abuse of this new statutory process cannot be ignored.”
Sen. Haley said that he believes owning real property is a right. While the government can deprive property owners of the right to own property for certain reasons, they should not be flimsy reasons, he said. There were already enough opportunities for the government to take real property, usually through means such as code enforcement, he said.
The governor’s veto statement is at this web address: http://governor.ks.gov/docs/default-source/documents/april-2016-sb-338-veto-message.pdf?sfvrsn=2
To see earlier stories on this subject, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/split-seen-in-wyandotte-county-legislative-delegation-over-housing-bill/
and
https://wyandotteonline.com/two-wyandotte-county-legislators-take-opposite-sides-on-abandoned-housing-bill/