The state legislative session ended a couple weeks ago with plenty of bills still remaining up in the air, from school choice to a property tax cut. But one of the more overlooked ones was Senate Bill 147, which would ban China from buying up Texas farmland. That was left by the wayside with no action taken.
According to The Texan's Matt Stringer, it is not just the farmland the Chinese are scooping up.
"It is land, and real estate across the state, in general," he says.
In fact, just recently, a former Chinese army officer with Communist Party ties purchased a massive ranch in the state. Something with which Texas lawmakers had an issue.
"There was concern of security of the electric grid. This Chinese businessman has the idea to tie his proposed wind farm into ERCOT, and the Texas power grid," Stringer says. "Senators have pointed out, when you have foreign nations with access to the power grid, there could be many issues with that."
The specific issues are up to the imagination.
"Those looking at this from a national security perspective can speculate on any number of reasons why this might be problematic," he says.
He does note that there was some legislation up which would help curb that, but there was issue on whether or not ERCOT was enforcing the law properly.
Governor Greg Abbott has called a special session this summer, calling for votes on things such as the school choice bill, and property tax relief. But he has not made any mention of SB-147. So, what happens if this sits in limbo for another two years? The land grab will continue, but not just for China.
"North Korea, Iran, Russia...all of them continue to purchase Texas real estate in whatever quantity they see fit, and wherever they see fit," he says.
SB-147 would ban not just China, but those other counties Stringer mentioned, and any other entity the Unted States deems as 'hostile.'
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