MADISON - State Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) believes state government doesn't do enough to protect private property rights of people in Wisconsin.
On Thursday in Madison, he rolled out a set of bills he's calling the "Homeowners' Bill of Rights."
Tiffany is teaming up with State Rep. Adam Jarchow (R-Balsam Lake) on the bills. They say courts have gone too far in regulating what people can do on their property.
"I think where we're regulating today is just too far, too much over the line," Jarchow said. "With these proposals, we're going to ratchet that back a little bit."
A western Wisconsin family lost a U.S. Supreme Court fight over use of their property this year. That decision sparked the bills.
Tiffany says the bills would also stop conditional use applications from being unfairly denied by local governments.
"We're seeing the conditional use process being abused at the local level, where you see applicants are filing for a permit. They meet all of the conditions. Yet, they're denied the permit," he said.
Another piece of the package would keep propane shipments free from weight limit rules on roads.
"We in the legislature have not taken up the mantle, also, over the last number of decades, in protecting people's property rights, which is really at the foundation of that privacy, but also prosperity," Tiffany said.
The bills will be officially introduced to the legislature in the near future.
