3 days ago
This governor vetoed a bill that would ban China from purchasing land. Here's why
Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing criticism for vetoing a bill that would have prevented China from buying land in the state.
In her veto letter, dated June 2, Hobbs said she considered protecting infrastructure important.
'However, this legislation is ineffective at counter-espionage and does not directly protect our military assets,' she said in the letter.
'Additionally, it lacks clear implementation criteria and opens the door to arbitrary enforcement.'
Foreign entities own about 40 million acres, or 3%, of U.S. farmland as of 2021. Out of this, China owns 1%, much lower in comparison to Canada, which owns 33%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This may seem like a small percentage, but it carries sizable national security implications, whether it's over concerns of who is controlling U.S. assets or whether the land could be used to conduct espionage. The bill in Arizona set out to address these concerns.
In Arizona's Maricopa and Pinal counties, more than 294,000 acres of agricultural land is owned by Chinese corporations, as per the USDA Farm Services Agency.
When Hobbs announced her decision to veto the bipartisan bill, she faced pushback.
Arizona state Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp claimed the veto was 'politically motivated' and 'utterly insane.'
Shamp introduced the bill to protect the 'state's military, commercial and agricultural assets from foreign espionage and sabotage,' per the text of the legislation.
She claims China attempted to lease land next to Luke Air Force Base, where the military trains fighter pilots.
Michael Lucci, the CEO and founder of State Armor Action, a nonprofit organization that is pushing 70 bills targeting China in states across the country, said Hobbs hung an ''Open for the CCP' sign on Arizona's front door,' and made critical assets like Luke Air Force Base, Palo Verde nuclear power plant and Taiwan Semiconductor factory more vulnerable.
'Allowing Communist China to buy up land near our critical assets is a national security risk, plain and simple,' Lucci told Fox News.
'Gov. Hobbs is substantively and completely wrong when she says that SB 1109 'is ineffective at counter-espionage and does not directly protect our military assets.''
The White House attempted to ban China from buying U.S. land. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed this move earlier in February.
'One of the very, very top of the list perhaps is the Chinese purchase of our farmland. A lot of that land is around some of our military outposts,' Rollins told Breitbart News.
Many states, especially the ones led by Republicans, are taking note. As of March 17, 27 states are considering 84 bills that restrict foreign property ownership in some way, according to Committee of 100, a nonprofit that advocates for Chinese Americans.
Twenty-two states passed nearly 40 bills that restrict foreign property ownership, 17 of which became law last year.
The idea of curbing investments from foreign adversaries into the U.S. for national security reasons isn't new.
The U.S. restricted Chinese-based telecommunication company Huawei from doing business with American companies.
Beijing-based social media app TikTok has so far survived a ban passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court, thanks to President Donald Trump, who extended the deadline for its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest the app's assets in the U.S.
It's possible Trump will extend the deadline a third time ahead of June 19, considering the app has 170 million users in the U.S.
Still, the idea of restricting certain foreign investments isn't as popular in the Western U.S. as it is in the Midwest and the South.
Only Idaho and Utah have laws on the books against international property buyers.
Meanwhile, Nevada, California, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico do not.
In the Beehive State, foreign-owned land is less than 40,000 acres.
But it ranks in the top five in the country for the amount of acreage at risk due to the number of key military installations it hosts, including Hill Air Force Base, the Utah Test and Training Range and Dugway Proving Ground, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Utah's foreign investment restriction laws attempt to nip the problem in the bud instead of letting it fester.
Last year, the GOP-held state Legislature passed HB516, which prevents some countries — North Korea, China, Iran and Russia — from buying land in Utah.
As the Deseret News previously reported, this bill sought to address national security concerns. The Utah Department of Public Safety is tasked with documenting these land holdings and compiling a database to reverse foreign investments.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, originally cosponsored a bill that would address this issue on the national level.
In 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed another bill, the Restrictions on Foreign Acquisitions of Land Act, that prohibits or restricts foreign investments and landholdings in Utah.
In 2023, the Idaho Legislature codified a law that would restrict foreign governments or foreign-government owned businesses from buying farmland in the state or holding claims to any mineral or water.
The Legislature fell short of enacting any enforcement for this law but remedied this two years later.
In April, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a law that authorized the state's attorney general to enforce the foreign ownership law.
