The West Virginia Legislature will consider passing forced pooling legislation during the 2016 session.  This will be the sixth time that they’ve considered it.  The legislation has been defeated five times in five years.  Each defeat has led to improvements in the legislation.  This year, backers of the legislation say that it has only changed slightly from last year’s version.  They think that the legislation from last year was pretty good and are willing to push it as is.

Opponents to forced pooling oppose it on principle.  They say that it’s not right to force a property owner to do any particular thing with their property unless they want to.  We agree.  We’re not fans of eminent domain either, for the same reason.  If the government or a company or a private citizen or a group of private citizens wants to use someone’s property, they should either work out an agreement for that property with the owner or find another piece of property to use.  We know there are counter-arguments, but we don’t think they trump the right of a property owner to control their property.

Looking forward to a fun legislative session.