H.R. 1944, Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2013
“H.R. 1944 would deny federal economic development assistance to state or local governments that exercise the power of eminent domain for economic development purposes or to take property from a tax-exempt entity, such as a religious or nonprofit organization. (Eminent domain is the right to take private property for public use.) The bill also would prohibit federal agencies from engaging in such practices. Private property owners would be given the right to bring legal actions seeking enforcement of those provisions, and the bill would waive states’ Constitutional immunity to such suits. Finally, H.R. 1944 would require the Attorney General to notify states and the public of how the legislation would affect individuals’ property rights and to report to the Congress each year on private rights of action brought against state and local governments.
The federal government provides economic development assistance to state and local governments through several programs, including the Community Development Block Grant Program, the Social Services Block Grant Program, Economic Development Administration Grants, Department of Agriculture grants and loans, and grants made by the regional commissions. CBO estimates that expenditures from those major programs totaled more than $7 billion in 2012 (although, depending on how the term is interpreted, some of those expenditures may not meet the definition of economic development under the bill).”
Congressional Budget Office 27 June 2013.