(The Center Square) – Arizona Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, criticized Gov. Katie Hobbs this week after the Democrat vetoed a bill that would have outlawed Chinese land ownership in Arizona.
Senate Bill 1109 would have banned China from buying, owning or acquiring land in the state. Shamp introduced the legislation.
During legislative hearings, Shamp said she introduced SB 1109 due to growing threats of China buying land near “critical infrastructure, military bases and sensitive corporate areas.”
She added that these land acquisitions serve a purpose for China, which is to surveil and collect data on people who manage sensitive assets and items.
Shamp explained China attempted to lease land near Luke Air Force Base, which is in her district. None of this land was sold to China.
In her veto letter of SB 1109, Hobbs said this bill is “ineffective at counter-espionage and does not directly protect our military assets.”
Furthermore, the governor noted SB 1109 “lacks clear implementation criteria and opens the door to arbitrary enforcement.”
Reacting to this letter, Shamp said Hobbs is violating her oath of office by continuing to veto public safety legislation that the Arizona Legislature passes and places on her desk.
The state senator called SB 1109 a “commonsense security measure” that prevents American enemies from getting easy access to its “military bases and critical infrastructure to carry out harm.”
“It is utterly insane that Arizona’s top elected official would rather be an obstructionist against safeguarding our citizens from threats than to sign legislation giving our state a fighting chance at proactively preventing attacks,” Shamp explained.
She called Hobbs a “total disgrace.”
Arizona’s future “is in jeopardy” as “long as she continues on this trajectory,” Shamp added.
A gubernatorial candidate who may face Hobbs in the November 2026 general election also did not react well to this veto.
Karrin Taylor Robson, who is ahead of Republican primary race opponent Rep. Andy Biggs of Chandler in a new poll, called Hobbs’ veto “disgraceful.”
The governor is undermining Arizona’s security, risking American troops and showing once again that the state “needs new leadership,” Taylor Robson said.
SB 1109 is not the first public safety legislation that Hobbs has vetoed this year.
In April, she vetoed SB 1027 and SB 1066.
SB 1027 would have prohibited Arizona’s critical telecommunications infrastructure from using equipment manufactured by American adversaries.
The other bill, SB 1066, would have prevented the selling of Arizona land to a foreign adversary.
