May 19, 2015 5:29 PM

Texas continues to tinker with eminent domain

Brief fight breaks out among Houston-area senators as Sen. Bettencourt nearly derails Sen. Whitmire’s eminent domain legislation

Today’s minor skirmish among the Harris County delegation in the Senate over jurisdiction of eminent domain cases was a reminder that for every session Texas lawmakers complete, there are multiple eminent domain bills that will be filed and then forgotten.

Sen. John Whitmire’s, D-Houston, House Bill 2536 was almost derailed by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, after Bettencourt attempted to attach a tangentially related eminent domain to Whitmire’s effort. That decision earned Bettencourt a mild rebuke from the author of that other bill, Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston.

After asking Bettencourt if he had attended any of the hearings to negotiate the terms around Senate Bill 824, Huffman said thank you, but no thank you.

By Kimberly Reeves