U.S. House passes bill on Eminent Domain

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kelo v. City of New London that local government could take over private property of several homeowners for the purpose of converting the property commercial use. The case was unique in that eminent domain had traditionally been used for public works projects - such as highways or public facilities. The Court held that "The city’s determination that the area at issue was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to deference"; essentially, local governments were best suited to determine what public use was locally under the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment. Kelo drew much backfire, and in response many state governments enacted laws limiting eminent domains takings to very specific uses.

On February 28, 2012, the US House of Representatives passed a bill seeking to limit the Kelo ruling. The bill, H.R. 1433 (known as the Private Property Rights Protection Act) is co-sponsored by James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, and Maxine Waters, D-California. According to the Washington Post, the

"legislation would withhold for two years all federal development aid to states or locales that take private property for economic development. It also bars the federal government from using eminent domain for economic development purposes and gives private property owners the right to take legal action if provisions of the legislation are violated."

The Private Property Rights Protection Act was opposed by John Conyers, D-Michigan, who was concerned that the bill exempted the Keystone XL pipeline from the eminent domain restrictions. The Keystone XL pipeline is a project by a Canadian company which proposes to build a gas pipeline from Canada to Texas. Additionally, Rep. Conyers noted that over 40 states have already enacted legislation in response to Kelo.

It is interesting to note that the property in question in Kelo was taken initially for Pfizer to develop a new location. In 2009, Pfizer abandoned the plans. For more information, see this CBS news article from November, 2009.

Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program

The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program was created to allow equal access to federal contracts by women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), and to economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSBs). This program allows contracting agencies to set aside certain federal contracts for WOSBs and EDWOSBS. Businesses who want to participate in the program must register with the Business Partner Network. The business must have a Data Universal Numbering Systems (DUNS), which is provided by Dun & Bradstreet; a Tax Identification Number; and data on the business, including the number of employees and basic accounting.

A business must satisfy certain criteria to be eligible for the program. In addition to being within one of approved North American Industry Classification Systems codes (opens a spreadsheet), the business must meet certain ownership and control standards, set forth below:

	WOSB	EDWOSB
Ownership	At least 51% unconditional and direct ownership by women	At least 51% unconditional and direct ownership by women
Control	At least 51% unconditional and direct control by women	At least 51% unconditional and direct control by women
Size	Small	Small
Operations	A woman must manage day-to-day operations, make long term decisions for the business, hold the highest officer position, and work at the business full-time during working hours	A woman must manage day-to-day operations, make long term decisions for the business, hold the highest officer position, and work at the business full-time during working hours
Economics	No limit	The woman in charge of operations must have a personal net worth of less than $750,000, with an AGI of less than $350,000 over the last three years prior to certification, and a FMV of all assets of less than $6,000,000.

A business can either self-certify, or be certified by one of four groups recognizd by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The four groups are the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Women Business Owners Corporation, The US Women's Chamber of Commerce, and the Women's Business Enterprise National Council.

The WOSB Federal Contracting Program is important to Howard County because of the proximity of Ft. Meade. Under the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), Howard County expects Ft. Meade to gain 22,000 new jobs. Local businesses can benefit by participating in federal contracting opportunities associated with the base.

If you have any questions about how either the WOSB program or BRAC can benefit your business, please feel free to contact our office.