By Neland Nobel

Written by Neland Nobel

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Arizona’s veto Queen, Katie Hobbs, vetoed another bill passed by the legislature. This one struck down legislation that would have restricted Chinese Communist entities from owning land next to vital military installations.

Hobbs seems to be on a streak likely to land her in the veto Hall of Shame.

As of June 2025, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed 355 bills since taking office in January 2023. This includes:

• 143 bills in the 2023 legislative session.
• 73 bills in the 2024 legislative session.
• 139 bills in the 2025 legislative session

Hobbs has surpassed the previous state record for vetoes, previously held by former Governor Janet Napolitano, who vetoed 181 bills during her six-year tenure.

This last veto is even more curious than many before. Being a fierce partisan who prefers to represent herself rather than the citizens of Arizona, it is hard to see the justification for a veto on this particular subject. Hobbs said in her veto message, “. . .this legislation is ineffective at counter-espionage and does not directly protect our military assets. Additionally, it lacks clear implementation criteria and opens the door to arbitrary enforcement.”

The legislature disagreed, and it seems rather evident that electronic monitoring equipment could easily be installed in a building adjacent to a military base.

According to the Arizona Mirror:

Democrats in the state House of Representatives and Senate shared concerns that the original version of Shamp’s proposal was unconstitutional and that it would lead to discrimination in land sales. 

A substantial amendment to the bill, passed through the House on May 6, allayed some of those concerns. The initial version of the bill banned certain people and businesses from countries designated as enemies of the United States by the director of national intelligence from owning land in Arizona. There were exceptions for small plots of residential land more than 50 miles away from a U.S. military installation. The amended version narrowed the ban to only the Chinese government and its subsidiaries. 

Democrats and Republicans are pretty closely matched in the legislature, and Democrats were able to amend the bill to address the concerns some had expressed. However, in the end, the House passed the bill by 41-17 and the Senate by 17-11. This could not have occurred without some Democratic votes.

But why many Democrats and the Governor would be against the bill seems odd to us. It is not like some key constituency, such as illegal aliens or the teachers’ union, would be losing something with this bill. The amended bill specifically targeted only the Chinese government and its subsidiaries. 

It did not discriminate against Chinese citizens and was not a general ban on land sales. Instead, it was targeted only at land near military bases.

The Governor’s pique against anything proposed by Republicans seems to blind her even in matters of national security.  The timing seemed especially off, since just before her veto, a Chinese couple with ties to Michigan were arrested for having in their possession an agricultural pathogen, a crop fungus described by the US Attorney as a “potential agroterrorism weapon.”

Ten states have passed bans on the Chinese government’s ownership of land: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia.

Most of the states are Republican, to be sure, but Democrats control Virginia’s legislature.

We think it is common sense not to let the Communist Party of China, which runs a dictatorship hostile to the US, have the ability to own land next to a military base.

But not Katie Hobbs. She thinks it’s fine for the Communist Party of China to own real estate next to a military base.

Sourced from PRICKLY PEAR