Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has vetoed a bill to limit foreign land ownership. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
But Kansas already limits corporate ownership of agricultural land. More than 20 other states restrict foreign land ownership, according to the National Agricultural Law Center.
Early in 2023, before being shot down, a Chinese spy balloon floated across U.S. skies for several days, including over northeast Kansas, home to Fort Leavenworth, home to the U.S. Army's college for training commanders. That intensified interest in restrictions on foreign land ownership in Kansas, though concerns existed already because of the construction of a national biosecurity lab near Kansas State University.
Kansas House Majority Leader Chris Croft, a Kansas City-area Republican and retired Army officer who was among the most vocal supporters of the bill, said Kelly's veto leaves its military bases and other critical infrastructure "wide open for adversarial foreign governments."
"The assets of this state are too important for us to sit on our hands and wait until it’s too late," Croft said in a statement after the veto.
Some conservative Republicans, including Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, pushed for even stronger restrictions. Kobach backed a plan to ban all foreign ownership of more than 3 acres of land, with a new state board able to make exceptions.
"Despite the governor’s apathy, we’ll continue to work to protect Kansas and its citizens from those foreign bad actors who wish to exploit land ownership loopholes," House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican said.
A few Republicans in the state Senate balked at the restrictions, and the bill appeared to be just short of the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto. The bill would have given affected foreign individuals and companies two years to divest themselves of their Kansas properties.
Critics suggested attributed support for the bill to xenophobia. They suggested the main effect would be to force immigrants — including those fleeing repressive regimes — to sell their shops and restaurants.
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"To the extent that this bill affects anyone, it affects everyday people, those who are trying to live the American dream," Democratic state Rep. Melissa Oropeza, of Kansas City, Kansas, said ahead of one vote on the bill.
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