A bill was passed in the House of Representatives in week eight of session, that looks to help protect American farmland and military bases.

Representative for District 23 Ray Sorensen says that the bill is a reinforcement of the state’s already strong laws that protect Iowa farmland from foreign entities, especially Chinese nationals that have been purchasing farmland near military bases, in what appears to be attempts to steal US intellectual properties and livestock practices. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio some of the things that the bill does.

“This bill amends current registration requirements for nonresident owners of agriculture land to include birthplace, nationality, the purpose of the business, information of the daily supervisor of the land, and the information of the owner’s company and parent companies. I think it also increases the financial penalty for failing to register, or falsify that information from $2,000 to 25 percent of the land’s assessed value.”

Sorensen explains that the switch from a fixed fine, oto a percentage of the assessed value was to make the fine more aggressive towards those it was leveled against, mentioning that for someone who holds hundreds of acres of land that’s valued at tens of thousands of dollars, the 25 percent hits harder than the $2,000 does. He adds that the bill also allows the attorney general to investigate any reports, and requires an annual report to both the governor and legislature of those investigations.