Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a flurry of new laws on Tuesday, including one that will prevent foreign adversaries like China from owning land in Arizona and another that establishes independent oversight of state prisons.
Foreign adversary land ownership
The foreign land-ownership bill was pitched as a national security measure.
Hobbs vetoed an earlier version of the bill that passed out of the state Senate on party lines, resulting in Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) saying he’d put the bill up for a veto override vote.
But following the pushback, Hobbs proposed an alternative version of the legislation — resulting in a negotiated bipartisan bill passing out of the Legislature.
Sen. Janae Shamp (R-Surprise) said it will protect Arizona military bases from foreign enemies.
“A cornerstone of U.S. air superiority, Luke Air Force Base trains over 75% of the world’s F-35 pilots. Its continued safety is not just Arizona's priority, it's a national imperative,” she said.
The negotiated bill passed out of the legislature with bipartisan support, although several Democrats still opposed it — citing constitutionality concerns.
“We don't start from ‘if you’re simply from this country you cannot buy land here.’ That seems prejudicial and un-American,” Sen. Mitzi Epstein (D-Tempe) said.
Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) said she prefers the bipartisan version of the bill but is concerned about targeting entities based on their national origin.
Arizona Democrats pointed to a similar law in Florida — Senate Bill 264 — that is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a group of Chinese citizens who argue the law is unconstitutional and violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, among other things.
The bill doesn’t ban all people from adversarial countries from owning Arizona land.
It specifically bans agents of foreign adversary nations. That term is defined as “an agent of a foreign adversary nation involved in espionage, a state-owned enterprise of a foreign adversary nation, an entity that is directed or controlled by a foreign adversary nation or proxies of that nation, a leader of a controlling political party or government or any administrative subdivision of a foreign adversary nation; or any business or other entity that is headquartered or domiciled in a foreign adversary nation and directly or indirectly held or controlled by a foreign adversary nation.”
Prison oversight
Another new Arizona law establishes an independent oversight office with the power to investigate prisons, look into complaints and issue reports.
The push for greater accountability follows an uptick in inmate murders and assaults, including a triple homicide at a Tucson facility earlier this year.
Rep. Walt Blackman (R-Snowflake) told his colleagues Senate Bill 1507 is long overdue.
“This actually provides the overwatch that we need on our prison systems. Our prison systems are the second-largest budget item we have, at $2 billion,” he said.
The bill passed with bipartisan support. All but one of the 13 lawmakers who voted against the bill are Republicans, including Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale).
Kolodin argued that the bill doesn’t establish truly independent oversight, because, under the bill, the governor would choose a director of the oversight agency — and the state Senate would approve the person.
“It allows the executive branch to appoint the head of oversight so that they can then oversee the executive branch,” Kolodin said.
