05/ 25/ 2006
by Rex Hammock
Sometimes, big policy issues seem to happen only to other folks in faraway places. In this issue of MyBusiness, we tackle an issue that NFIB members everywhere are discovering right in their own backyards. In the wake of last summer's Supreme Court decision allowing local governments to invoke eminent-domain powers to force a private landowner to sell his property to another private landowner, a growing wave of local governments are using this power—and small-business owners are fighting back.
NFIB members, NFIB staff in Washington, D.C., and the state capitals, and the NFIB Legal Foundation are leading the charge in defending property rights and advocating for new laws at the state and federal levels to close the loophole left by the Supreme Court's decision. In the article, "Condemnation" on page 30, we take a look at how some NFIB members have discovered the hard way that eminent domain is not someone else's problem. It's an issue that requires you to stay on top of the latest developments and join with other NFIB members in taking action.
In addition to covering the eminent-domain issue here in the magazine, we'll be following it with coverage on our newly redesigned Web site, MyBusinessmag.com. There you'll find daily developments on a wide range of issues, plus the kind of the practical advice you've come to expect from us. For MyBusiness readers and NFIB members, our new site is a wonderful complement to the vast resources members can find on NFIB.com.
Speaking of resources, one of this magazine's most helpful resources was recognized recently with the highest journalistic award that a business magazine can receive. The "MyBusiness Manual," which you can find in each issue, won a Jesse H. Neal Award. For our readers, editors, writers and designers, this is a great recognition for the quality we've all come to expect from NFIB's small-business magazine, MyBusiness.
