NC lawmakers are considering a revised bill that would ban "adversarial nations" from buying farmland within 50 miles of military bases such as Ft. Bragg, shown here, and National Guard facilities. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
North Carolina lawmakers are revisiting bills that would ban certain foreign groups from purchasing farmland in the state.
Republicans on Tuesday presented an updated version of House Bill 133, “NC Farmland and Military Protection Act,” which would prohibit “adversarial” foreign countries from buying agricultural land situated within 50 miles of a military installation.
Rather than listing each individual country, the “adversarial” nations would be the ones in the International Traffic and Arms Regulations list, according to Sen. Bob Brinson (R-Craven). These include countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.
“I think it’s valuable to tie it to something we don’t have to keep updating. The federal government actually updates that,” Brinson told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Affected military installations include Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and National Guard facilities.
Last year, a version of the bill passed unanimously in the House, but stalled in the Senate. Brinson said he had worked with colleagues to address concerns.
The earlier version would have barred foreign adversaries from purchasing land within 75 miles of a military base, while a companion, Senate Bill 394, “Protect Foreign Ownership of NC Land,” proposed a 25-mile radius.
Lawmakers compromised on a 50-mile radius, Brinson said, and added National Guard facilities to the list of protected military installations.
But Senate Democrats raised concerns on Tuesday over the bill’s framework.
Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) said portions of her southern Wake County district are within 50 miles of Fort Bragg.
“There are also a lot of folks who have immigrated here, either this generation or prior generations, who are from China, and a lot of folks who come and start small businesses in this growing area,” she said.
The bill’s new version removed portions referring to individuals, Brinson said in response. It focuses on state-controlled enterprises and governments.
“We just didn’t have the expertise and the time, for that matter, to figure out how to write a substantive bill and not impact people we didn’t want to impact,” he said.
Grafstein questioned the 50-mile radius, saying other states with similar legislation have settled on five or 10 miles.
“I don’t know that a foreign government is going to set up in Holly Springs because Fort Bragg is 50 miles away,” she said. “I don’t know that there’s a magic number, but a lot of other states have much smaller ranges, and I think there’s a reason for that.”
The Senate panel will take a vote on H133 at a later hearing.
Changes were made to S394 as well, implementing the same language as H133.
The House Judiciary 2 Committee voted to approve the updated version of S394 Tuesday afternoon, sending it to the House Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.
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