A bill looking to ban foreign adversaries from owning land in Wisconsin is taking its first major step towards becoming law.
Assembly Bill 30, which was co-authored by Senator Andre Jacque of New Franken and Representative William Penterman of Hustisford, passed the Assembly Committee on Agriculture today on a bipartisan vote of 11-4.
The bill would specifically only disallow countries identified under federal law as actively undermining the security and sovereignty of the United States from owning any land in Wisconsin, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba.
Sen. Jacque called the bill important because “The economic and national security threat of foreign adversaries owning and controlling Wisconsin lands and supply chains is not hypothetical, but one that is real, urgent, and must be dealt with now.”
The measure, which has the support of leading agricultural groups in the state, such as the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and the Dairy Business Association, will now move to the full Assembly for a vote.
