Senate debate opens on bill to bar certain foreign adversaries from acquiring Oregon land, water and mineral rights

Chair Manning opened a public hearing and received an overview of Senate Bill 10 23 on March 13, 2025. Legislative counsel summarized the bill as directing the Oregon attorney general to adopt and periodically revise a list of persons known or believed to be adversaries of the United States, and to consider including persons on lists maintained by the federal government.

Under the bill as described, persons placed on that list would be ineligible to receive specified rights — including property, mineral or water rights — and deeds or sales agreements could be voided for conveyances that attempt to transfer exclusive farm or forest use or mining, mineral or water rights to listed persons. The dash-4 amendment would add persons from countries that do not permit U.S. citizens to own land; the dash-5 amendment would exempt persons who hold national security agreements with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) from the restrictions. Testimony and sponsor remarks said the act's enforcement mechanisms would include authority for the attorney general or counties to file suit, sell, condemn or seek title where conveyances violate the act; an effective date for portions of the act was identified as Jan. 1, 2027.

Senator David Brock Smith, sponsor, described the measure as a broader reciprocity and national-security response to foreign ownership concerns. He said he had reviewed and would work with the Oregon Land Title Association on suggested technical changes, including protections for lien holders and guidance on proceeds distribution when property is seized or sold under the measure. Committee members asked whether agencies that would administer the list had provided implementation feedback; Senator Brock Smith said he had not heard administrative pushback but indicated willingness to continue working on technical fixes.

The committee noted the dash-5 amendment specifically excludes persons covered by existing national-security agreements with CFIUS, and sponsor remarks emphasized that provision. The public hearing record included testimony, written comments and references to the Oregon Land Title Association's suggested edits; the committee closed the hearing at the close of the panel. No committee vote was taken on the bill during the March 13 meeting.

The bill raises questions about administrative burden on the attorney general's office, potential legal challenges to property conveyances, and how appeals by listed persons would be processed; those procedural and fiscal issues were highlighted in testimony and association comments and were noted by the sponsor.