The Democratic governor called the bill âoverly broadâ and ânot narrowly tailoredâ to protect Kansas from bad actors.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill on Friday that aimed to prevent companies of China and other âforeign adversariesâ from acquiring real property near military installations in the state.
Senate Bill 172 aims to block individuals or companies from âcountries of concernâ from owning any interest in land located within a 100-mile radius of a military installation in Kansas.
Under the bill, any foreign principal that owns or acquires any interest in real property in Kansas would be required to file registration with the attorney general and divest of the property.
The Democratic governor has vetoed the proposed legislation, saying that the bill contains provisions that are âoverly broadâ and ânot narrowly tailoredâ to protect the state from foreign adversaries.
âWhile I agree that it is important for our state to implement stronger protections against foreign adversaries, this legislation contains multiple provisions that are likely unconstitutional and cause unintended consequences,â Ms. Kelly said in a statement.
âAdditionally, the retroactive nature of this legislation raises further serious constitutional concerns,â she added.
Ms. Kelly said the legislature should consider proposals that protect Kansas from âbad actorsâ without affecting the stateâs legitimate business relationships with potential trading partners and small businesses.
âI am not willing to sign a bill that has the potential to hurt the stateâs future prosperity and economic development,â the governor stated.
According to a report by Kansas State University, foreign investors from China own a single acre of privately held agricultural land in the state. China is among the countries listed as U.S. foreign adversaries.
Republicans Voice Disappointment
Kansas Republicans have criticized Ms. Kellyâs decision to veto the bill. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, Majority Leader Chris Croft, and Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter issued a joint statement saying that the governor is putting military installations in Kansas at risk.
âForeign adversaries, such as China, have made their intentions toward the U.S. and our democracy abundantly clear,â Mr. Hawkins said in the statement.
âItâs shameful that our governor has chosen not to take those threats seriously, leaving Kansasâ critical infrastructure and military installments exposed,â he added.
Mr. Croft described the governorâs veto as âbeyond disappointing,â saying that it leaves the stateâs military bases and other critical infrastructure âwide open for adversarial foreign governments.â
âThe assets of this state are too important for us to sit on our hands and wait until itâs too late,â he stated. âThis bill was carefully designed with input from everyone who wanted a say on how we should move forward.â
Similar Legislation in Other States
Similar legislation has been introduced in several states, including Georgia, Iowa, Utah, and Oklahoma. The South Carolina Senate passed a bill in March that will partly ban companies or citizens of foreign adversaries from acquiring real property in the state.
Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition aimed at ending discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, has condemned the measure and said it could stoke âxenophobiaâ among Asian American communities.
âThese land ban laws label our communities as untrustworthy, blame them for the actions of another countryâs government, and stoke the flames of racism, xenophobia, and hate,â Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, said in a statement after Georgiaâs passage of the bill.
While the acreage under Chinese ownership is slightly less than 1 percent of all foreign-held agricultural land, it represents a nearly 30-fold leap from 13,720 acres in 2010, according to a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report.
Caden Pearson contributed to this report.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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