Someone once complained I didn’t have enough good news here. So here’s some good news. The House of Representatives voted 376-38 to pass HR 4128, the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005, which will deny federal funds for two years to any state or local government that tries to use eminent domain for economic development purposes.

The ruling in Kelo v. City of New London allowed the Connecticut city to exercise state eminent domain law to require several homeowners to cede their property for commercial use.

Conservatives were in the forefront in arguing that this was a dangerous interpretation of the “takings clause” in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution that allows the government to seize property for public use, with just compensation.

“Governments should not be able to bulldoze a person’s home or business to benefit other individuals,” said Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas.

Liberals warned that it could make it easier to tear down poor neighborhoods. “We don’t need you on this one,” Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said to those arguing that eminent domain can lead to beneficial urban renewal projects. “We need you to respect the right of those minorities and those poor people to hold on to what is their own.”

Opponents of the legislation argued that its exclusion of economic development was too broad and that the federal government should not be interceding in what should be a local issue. “We should not change federal law every time members of Congress disagree with the judgment of a locality when it uses eminent domain for the purpose of economic development,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va. — Associated Press

I should stop right there, because that’s an important point. A locality’s use of eminent domain is indeed a local issue, but when it takes the property of one person and gives it to someone else, that’s a property rights issue. Eminent domain wasn’t intended for that sort of thing, and Congress should be applauded for doing what it can to discourage it.

The Castle Coalition, one of the most prominent groups fighting eminent domain, hailed the legislation as a win, saying in a press release “The legislation strikes the perfect balance. It serves to reassure every American that federal dollars–their own money–won’t be used to kick them off their land, while allowing state and local governments to use federal dollars for actual public uses, like roads and military bases.”

In related news, this will certainly kill any possibility of Louisana lawmakers making use of eminent domain to seize homes in areas of New Orleans devastated by breeched levee flooding. The NOLA seizure plan would have given developers large swathes of land where homes are condemned due to flood damage. — Stephen VanDyke

The bill now goes to the Senate, where a similar version is already under consideration. President Bush is expected to sign the bill.

It’s about time. Kelo v. New London was an atrocious miscarriage of justice.