At this year’s NATO Summit the stakes couldn’t be higher
Ukraine, Russia, defense spending and a general lack of U.S. enthusiasm are all on the table at this year’s NATO Summit.
- Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs proposed a bill banning foreign adversaries from owning land in the state a week after vetoing a similar bill.
- Hobbs called the previous bill “weak and spineless” and proposed a stronger measure targeting China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
- The new proposal expands the ban statewide and removes loopholes but faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled legislature.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ office has released a proposal to ban the nation’s foreign adversaries from owning property in the state, one week after she axed a similar measure.
The move comes after a flood of fierce criticism from Republicans across the nation over Hobbs’ June 2 veto of a similar bill. Hobbs, a Democrat, said in a statement June 9 that the bill, which would have prohibited China from owning land in the state for more than three years, was a “weak and spineless” measure compared with her own.
“If the legislature is serious about protecting Arizonans from foreign adversaries, I ask them to send me new legislation with my changes that will crack down on the governments of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and other foreign adversaries and close the loopholes in their weak and watered down bill,” Hobbs said in a statement.
Hobbs’ effort to one-up the criticism with her own more harsh bill offers something of a test for the Republican-majority Legislature and whether GOP lawmakers will offer her a policy win.
Her proposal was panned by Rep. Alexander Kolodin, a Scottsdale Republican who proposed changes to the original bill. Kolodin said Hobbs’ new proposal was her “latest messaging stunt.”
“The notion that she magically now is going to tackle a Republican policy priority is as laughable as it is unrealistic,” said Kolodin, who is running for secretary of state next year.
Hobbs’ proposal could reflect her own political future: Hobbs is defending her seat in the Governor’s Office in 2026. The election is expected to be one of the most competitive in the nation, and analysts have said Arizona is in reach for the GOP to flip the seat.
Two of Hobbs’ GOP opponents in the gubernatorial race, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs and businesswoman Karrin Taylor Robson, had condemned her veto of the prior bill. They are among the prominent conservatives who have been blasting Hobbs’ opposition, portraying the veto as a disgrace and affront to national security.
Fox News welcomed Kari Lake, the former Phoenix news anchor who Hobbs beat in 2022 for the Governor’s Office, to interview on the topic. Lake said Hobbs “doesn’t give a damn that Arizona could be compromised under her watch.”
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, a Gilbert Republican, pledged to override the governor’s veto. To do so would require a 2/3 vote in both chambers of the Legislature and would be a rare feat in the narrowly divided chambers. An override would mean some Democratic lawmakers would have to change their minds, because the prior bill passed the Senate 17-11 with only Republicans in support.
The bill did pick up some Democratic supporters when it passed the House 41-17 in early May.
Governor’s proposal is more restrictive than original bill
The governor’s proposal goes farther than the bill that landed on her desk, which was pared down from the version first introduced by Sen. Janae Shamp, a Republican from Surprise.
Shamp has previously said the measure was meant to address concerns that China and other nations were buying land and property near military bases and other critical infrastructure for spying and sabotage. She said that posed a security threat and gave those nations the capability to attack the nation’s military defense, specifically naming Luke Air Force Base, which she said “recently faced this very real danger.”
Shamp said in an earlier statement that the governor’s veto showed Hobbs “would rather be an obstructionist against safeguarding our citizens from threats than to sign legislation giving our state a fighting chance at proactively preventing attacks.” Shamp did not respond to an email seeking comment for this article.
When it went to Hobbs’ desk, Shamp’s Senate Bill 1109 prohibited the People’s Republic of China from having a more than 30% ownership interest in any property in Arizona. It included language allowing China to own property if it divested or sold the property within three years.
Hobbs took issue with that provision in her proposal, which in at least one way is more in line with what Shamp originally introduced. Both Hobbs and Shamp wanted the property prohibitions to apply to nations identified as a risk in recent threat assessments from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence. Those nations include China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
The governor’s proposal bars foreign adversaries and their agents from property ownership, closing what she viewed as a loophole in the prior bill that allowed a nation’s representative to purchase land. It also removes language that limited ownership within 50 miles of a military installation, in favor of a statewide ban.
Hobbs’ version does allow a foreign adversary to own property in Arizona if the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a federal entity that already reviews purchases for national security concerns, determines that ownership is not a risk.
What are the new bill’s prospects for passage?
Hobbs named her proposal the Blocking Adversarial Nations (BAN) Act.
Whether it will pass the Legislature is unclear, as is the governor’s willingness to muscle it through in what are likely the final weeks of the annual work session. While it is technically too late to introduce bills, there are mechanisms for doing so.
When released by her office on June 9, Hobbs’ bill did not have any sponsors, and it was unclear who would take up the mantle of getting it back to the governor’s desk.
Hobbs’ spokesperson, Christian Slater, said the governor’s proposal was not a response to the chorus of conservative criticism of her veto but a result of her concern that the prior bill was not an effective counterespionage measure. He did not directly answer a question about what work Hobbs’ office had done to find a sponsor for the bill.
“We welcome any legislator interested to take action to crack down on foreign adversaries to use that language,” Slater said.
News alerts in your inbox: Don’t miss the important news of the day. Sign up for azcentral newsletter alerts to be in the know.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.