California Eminent Domain Report

Just before the midnight deadline for taking action yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 2531, the bill that would increase the eminent domain authority of the Community Redevelopment Association of Los Angeles.  His late-night message to the legislature was as follows:

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 2531 without my signature.
Redevelopment funds are to be used solely for the purpose of eliminating blight in urban neighborhoods in California cities. This bill would authorize the use of redevelopment funds for projects that are not necessarily blighted as well as for projects outside the redevelopment area, and as such would violate the primary purpose of redevelopment law.

For these reasons I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger

The bill now goes back to the legislature, which will have an opportunity to override the veto with a 2/3 super majority vote.  If proponents can obtain the necessary votes, AB 2531 will become law despite the veto.  (As we we reported on Wednesday, AB 2531 passed both houses with comfortable margins, but neither quite reached the 2/3 support necessary for an override vote.) 

In this respect, note that it is highly unusual for the legislature to override a veto.   In fact, there has not been a successful veto override in California since July 1979, and there have only been a small handful of efforts to override a veto in the last decade.  The last serious attempt was in 2009, when an effort was made to override the Governor's veto of AB 264, which was a bill honoring Vietnam War veterans. 

Thus, while there is always a chance that there will be some organized effort to gather the necessary votes, the likelihood is exceedingly small.  If we hear any rumblings about an override effort, we'll let you know.