Bill > S1861

Introduced Session

This bill would prohibit any foreign government or foreign person from acquiring, purchasing, or otherwise obtaining a legal, beneficial, or other interest in any agricultural or horticultural land or agricultural woodlands in the State on or after the bill's effective date, with limited exceptions, as described below. The bill would permit a foreign government or foreign person that already owns or holds an interest in agricultural or horticultural land or agricultural woodlands in the State, on the bill's effective date, to continue to own or hold the interest in such land for a maximum of five years thereafter. Within five years after the bill's effective date, the foreign government or foreign person would be required to sell or otherwise convey the ownership of, or interest in, the agricultural or horticultural land or agricultural woodlands to an individual, trust, corporation, partnership, or other business entity that is not a foreign government or foreign person, with a deed of easement attached to the land requiring the land to remain devoted to agricultural or horticultural use or be maintained as agricultural woodlands, as applicable. The bill would provide the following exceptions to the general prohibition on the continued foreign ownership of agricultural or horticultural land and agricultural woodlands: 1) a foreign government or foreign person may acquire agricultural or horticultural land or agricultural woodlands, on or after the bill's effective date, through a process of law involving the collection of debt, the execution of a deed in lieu of foreclosure, the forfeiture of a contract for deed, or the imposition of a lien or claim on the land, whether by mortgage or otherwise, but such person or government would then be required to sell or convey the land, within two years after the transfer of title thereto, to an individual, trust, corporation, partnership, or other business entity that is not a foreign government or foreign person, with a deed of easement attached to the land requiring the land to remain devoted to agricultural or horticultural use or be maintained as agricultural woodlands, as applicable; and 2) the provisions of the bill would not be applicable to agricultural or horticultural land or agricultural woodlands acquired by devise or descent or pursuant to a bona fide encumbrance established on agricultural or horticultural land or agricultural woodlands taken for the purposes of security. The bill further provides that, whenever land assessment valuation is undertaken in association with the acquisition of land by a foreign government or foreign person pursuant to a process of law involving the collection of debt, the execution of a deed in lieu of foreclosure, the forfeiture of a contract for deed, or the imposition of a lien or claim on the land, whether created by a mortgage or otherwise, the valuation is to incorporate and reflect the fact that the land is to remain devoted to agricultural or horticultural use or maintained as agricultural woodlands, as applicable. The bill provides that any provision of the bill which is inconsistent with, or in violation of, any treaty between the United States and another country would not apply to any foreign government or foreign person residing in a country that is party to the treaty. Finally, the bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture, no more than 90 days after the effective date of the bill, and annually thereafter, to report to the Governor and the Legislature: 1) the total acreage of agricultural or horticultural land and agricultural woodlands in the State that is owned by foreign governments or foreign persons; 2) the percentage change in the amount of in-State agricultural or horticultural land and agricultural woodlands acreage owned by foreign governments or foreign persons, per year, over the preceding 10 years; 3) the top 10 nationalities of foreign governments or foreign persons owning agricultural or horticultural land or agricultural woodlands in the State, by total amount of acreage owned; and 4) the purposes for which agricultural or horticultural land and agricultural woodlands owned by foreign governments or foreign persons has been used in the preceding five years, and any significant changes or trends in the use of such land. The bill authorizes the secretary to base the requisite data on: reports that are submitted, to the Department of Agriculture, by the United States Department of Agriculture pursuant to federal law; or any other relevant information available to the department. The bill also directs the State Agriculture Development Committee and other State agencies and departments, as well as county boards of agriculture and other local agencies, boards, or political subdivisions in the State, to provide the secretary with any relevant information available concerning the data required to be compiled and reported by the bill.

Committee Categories

Parker Space (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document