Kansas Governor Killed Limits on Foreign Land Ownership
TheConservativeTimes.org
) – Restrictions on foreign ownership of land in Kansas have just been taken away after the governor vetoed a bill that would protect military bases from Chinese spying, according to Republicans.
Kansas House’s top GOP leader accused Gov. Laura Kelly of being apathetic toward serious national security threats. The bill would have prohibited more than ten percent ownership by foreign nationals of any non-residential property within 100 miles of any military installation.
A Kansas University report showed that Chinese ownership accounted for one acre of owned Kansas agricultural land. Companies owned over two percent of the state’s fifty million acres of private agricultural land. The bill that was expected to pass would make the university compile annual reports on all foreign real estate ownership.
Kelly stated during their veto speech that Kansas does need protections, but that the bill was so broad that it could disrupt “legitimate investment and business relationships.”
“I am not willing to sign a bill that has the potential to hurt the state’s future prosperity and economic development,” Kelly said.
Kansas exported over fourteen million dollars of product last year and China was their fourth largest trading partner during that time behind Japan, Canada, and Mexico.