Slim Pickings For Rich

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Organizations backed by Howard Rich, a wealthy New York conservative activist and chairman of Americans for Limited Government, spent over $8.6 million in eight states promoting 'takings' initiatives. 'Takings' promoters seek to limit the role of regulation by requiring compensation to be paid to property owners if a regulation has an impact on the value of their property. The Center for Public Integrity reports that four of the eight initiatives backed by Rich-supported groups weren't "put before voters because of legal and procedural problems." Three of those that were voted on - in California, Washington state and Idaho - were defeated. One, in Arizona, passed comfortably but may yet face a legal challenge. Spokesman for the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Oliver Griswold, said that "Howie Rich and his cronies came in from out of state and pretended to be grass-roots and pushed these gimmicks onto the ballot."