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House advances bill expanding definition for prohibited foreign acquisition of land; floor debate questions mapping and enforcement
Summary
House Bill 358, which defines military installations for purposes of restricting foreign acquisition of certain property interests, passed after floor debate; the clerk's roll call recorded the ayes as 20 and the nays as 50 while the presiding officer declared the bill passed.
The Georgia House considered and passed House Bill 358, a measure described on the floor as a definitions bill intended to expand or clarify what constitutes a "military installation" for purposes of a statute that restricts certain foreign persons and entities from acquiring possessory interests in land.
Representative Smith, who presented the bill, characterized it as a narrow clarification that follows earlier legislation (Senate Bill 420) aimed at preventing agents of hostile foreign governments from buying certain kinds of property near specified facilities. Questions from the floor focused on the bill’s practical reach: Representative Al asked whether the sponsor or staff had mapped how many and which facilities would become covered by the expanded definition, given that the draft language could extend a 10‑mile radius to a broader set of facilities (including storage or auxiliary sites). Representative Al also raised concerns about the state’s capacity to identify who qualifies as an agent of a foreign government and the potential for discriminatory effects if agencies lack resources to make those determinations.
Representative Smith said he did not have a tabulation of affected facilities on hand and offered to provide it later. He asserted that state agencies would use available means to identify agents of foreign governments.
On final passage, the clerk and presiding officer completed the roll call. The clerk announced the ayes were 20 and the nays were 50; the record shows the presiding officer declared the bill passed.
The bill’s floor caption refers to an amendment of Code Section 2‑1‑7 of the Official Code of Georgia concerning the acquisition of possessory interests in land by foreign persons and entities. The sponsor described the measure as a definition amendment to make previous legislation’s scope clearer. No implementing maps or spreadsheets were available on the floor; a sponsor indicated they would obtain such information upon request.
