New legislation aiming to block foreign entities identified as potential national security threats from purchasing land in Texas has been filed in the Senate.
State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) introduced the measure, Senate Bill 17, on Thursday.
The act would restrict individuals or entities from countries designated as national security threats from acquiring “real property” in Texas.
If signed into law, Senate Bill 17 would apply to both governmental entities of countries that pose potential threats to national security as well as organizations that are either headquartered in or directly tied to those countries.
Specifically, the legislation outlines “real property” as areas of the state that can be categorized as agricultural land, commercial property, industrial property, residential property, or even mines.
“I am proud to file SB 17, the Adversarial Land Ownership bill, delivering sensible safeguards to protect Texas land and its natural resources from foreign adversaries while allowing opportunities for those seeing a safe haven in our state,” Kolkhorst told Texas Scorecard.
The senator explained that “The bill prohibits foreign governmental entities, companies, and individuals from purchasing private property in Texas if they are from countries identified in the latest Annual Threat Assessment reports by the Director of National Intelligence.”
Currently, the four countries identified by the U.S. Intelligence Community as national security threats are China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
“It is focused on ownership of natural resources and Texas’ natural resources and land—not investment in such—and makes clear that Texas is not for sale to any nation deemed a threat to our national security,” she concluded.
The act also aims to strengthen the attorney general’s power of enforcement. It states that if the attorney general suspects that a foreign purchase would put public safety at risk, the office can step in and take action.
SB 17 was flagged by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as one of his 25 priorities for the 89th legislative session.
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