Virginia property owners, your Legislature left you in the lurch

Caving in to tax-hungry city officials and land developers, last June the U.S. Supreme Court gave city hall the OK to condemn your home if private builders target your land for a new, tax-generating office complex.

To block this raid on property rights, Virginia's elected lawmakers in Richmond introduced a flurry of bills earlier this year to reinforce property safeguards.

But not one of these proposals had become law when the 2006 legislative session ended on March 11.

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