[JURIST] Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), chairman of the US House Subcommittee on the Constitution [official website], said Thursday that legislation restricting state and local government's ability to take private property for private development could be presented to the full House Judiciary Committee in the next few weeks and could be ready for a vote in the US House later this fall. The subcommittee held a hearing [committee materials] Thursday on potential congressional responses to the June US Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. New London [opinion text; JURIST report], where the court held that local governments can take homes for private development. The committee is reviewing legislation [HR 3135 text, PDF] that would ban the use of federal funds for private development projects that rely on state and local government takings to acquire land and would also bar the federal government from using eminent domain to foster economic development. Similar legislation is also being considered [JURIST report] by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Reuters has more.