2005 House Bill 5029: Authorize local “port economic development authorities”

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Introduced by Rep. Tupac Hunter (D) on June 29, 2005, to revise the law that allows local governments to establish a “port economic development authority,” which applies primarilly to Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority. The bill grants the authority more extensive powers borrow and to undertake “activities that foster transportation, economic development, housing, recreation, education, governmental operations, culture, or research.” Among many other provisions the bill contains language establishing “promoting economic growth” as “an essential public purpose,” which would potentially allow the exercise of eminent domain over private property, and other regulations.
- Referred to the House Natural Resources, Great Lakes, Land Use, and Environment Committee on June 29, 2005.
  - Reported in the House on August 31, 2005, without amendment and with the recommendation that the bill pass.
Passed 107 to 1 in the House on September 13, 2005.
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"
Received in the Senate on September 14, 2005.
- Referred to the Senate Transportation Committee on September 14, 2005.

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1) ditto west michigan by Anonymous Citizen on March 21, 2006
i don't know how the port issue affects west michigan, but, if we would get half the money wayne county alone gets from lansing, things would sure be a lot different around here. not to mention the u. p.. i don't blame them for wanting to be thier own state. it's all about south eastern michigan.
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2) you nerver stop by Anonymous Citizen on March 20, 2006
Here you go again. Why are you guys in lansing always trying to erode the power of the people in the city of Detroit? This is a good reason why we citizens know that people in Detroit cannot put any faith in this legislative body because you have no intention on doing any “right”. Can you please cut your salaries? The billion we pay is much too much for what we get from this body.
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3) Bill Would Give Ambassador Bridge Company Unlimited Power by Anonymous Citizen on February 14, 2006
House Bill 5029 would hugely expand the powers of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. The DWCPA is a tiny bureaucracy charged with promoting waterborne shipping from Detroit. It has done nothing throughout its history except soak up a several hundred thousand dollars in state subsidies. It has proved itself completely worthless, except to one person: Matty Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge. Recently the Port Authority concluded an agreement with a Moroun company which transfers the Authority's powers to the Ambassador Port Company. These powers include the ability to condemn land for port facilities, including a second Ambassador Bridge. These powers were of little use to the moribund Port Authority, but energized with the massive capitalization flowing from Bridge tolls, they create an agency of considerable power.

This power would be expanded beyond precedent by HB 5029. This bill gives the DWCPA and, by the agreement, the Moroun companies, unlimited power to condemn land anywhere for any kind of real-estate deal. It is impossible to tell where this power would reveal itself, but the Bridge company has already announced that it intends to build a new bridge as part of its deal with the Port Authority. This bill would allow it to plunk the Michigan end of the bridge down wherever it wants. Another likely point of attack by the DWPCA-Moroun partnership is Algonac, where the company would have unlimited power to condemn land for its new bridge to Harsen's Island. The weird scheme to force Detroit-Windsor Tunnel traffic to drive two miles to customs booths at the Ambassador Bridge, and then two miles back downtown before using the Tunnel becomes almost real under this agreement. The Port Authority could condemn all the land needed for this monopoly deal, and no agency would have the power to stop it.

Ironically, many of the sponsors of HB 5029 campaigned on platforms of opposition to the Bridge company's treatment of southwest Detroit neighborhoods. The agreement between DWCPA and Moroun turns the sponsors of this bill into agents of the Bridge company.

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