Gov. Katie Hobbs said the bill was ‘ineffective at counter-espionage.’
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on June 2 vetoed a bill that would have prohibited the Chinese communist regime and state-owned enterprises from acquiring property in Arizona, according to her office.
Senate Bill 1109, sponsored by Arizona Senate Majority leader Janae Shamp (R-Ariz.), seeks to prevent China from buying or holding a substantial interest—a 30 percent stake or more—in property within Arizona.
The proposed measure was designed to safeguard the state’s “military, commercial and agricultural assets” from the risks of “foreign espionage and sabotage,” which could lead to national security threats, according to the bill.
In a letter announcing her veto of the legislation, Hobbs said the bill was “ineffective at counter-espionage” and did not directly protect military assets in the state from such potential threats.
The governor also stated that the bill “lacks clear implementation criteria” and that it could lead to “arbitrary enforcement,” without elaborating further.
Shamp criticized the governor’s veto as a “politically motivated” move and warned that Arizona’s future would be “in jeopardy” if Hobbs continued on this trajectory, noting that this was not the first time Hobbs had vetoed legislation aimed at enhancing public safety.
The senator cited Hobbs’s decision in April to veto a bill that aimed to ban the use of telecommunication equipment manufactured by China—referred to as a “foreign adversary”—in the state. Hobbs said at the time that the bill would cause “undue difficulty” for businesses and “generate costs to taxpayers.”
“It is utterly insane that Arizona’s top elected official 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 said in a statement released by the Arizona Senate Republican Caucus.
Shamp said that China has acquired “large tracts” of land and property near critical installations in recent years that could be used to carry out surveillance and gather intelligence on critical assets of the United States.
She warned that China could use these properties to position autonomous weapons systems, such as drone swarms, and potentially use them to launch attacks on U.S. military bases in the event of a conflict.
Shamp stated that SB 1109 would have ensured that “enemies of the United States would not have easy access to our military bases and critical infrastructure to carry out harm.”
“SB 1109 was a commonsense security measure to ensure enemies of the United States would not have easy access to our military bases and critical infrastructure to carry out harm,” she stated. “Luke Air Force Base recently faced this very real danger.”
The governor’s office did not return a request for comment by publication time.
