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Last Friday, your state lawmakers wrapped up the Indiana General Assembly for 2024. One of the bills that received final approval and now heads to Governor Eric Holcomb’s desk for his approval is one that impacts the renting or selling of Indiana’s farmland.
“[The bill] said if you were one of the adversarial countries as identified by the U.S. Department of Commerce—Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba—then you would not be permitted to buy farmland in Indiana,” says State Rep. Kendell Culp (R-16th District) who spoke during the Shelby County Ag Promotion banquet last week in Shelbyville before the bill received full approval from state lawmakers.
Culp introduced House Bill 1183, which passed in the House unanimously back in February. When his bill made it to Senate Ag Committee, they added some additional ownership restrictions to his bill.
“It’s going to put a 10-mile circle around every military installation in Indiana, including armories and bases, and just the four main ones—Cuba and Venezuela are not on that list. They could not buy any real estate within that 10-mile radius including buildings and property, not just farmland,” according to Culp.
Even though the bill also received unanimous support from State Senators, Culp says he has received pushback from members of the Indiana Economic Development Commission (IEDC).
“State Sen. Jean Leising (R-District 42) and I met with a representative from the Indiana Economic Development organization, and they told us then there were nine companies that fit the definition of ‘foreign adversary’ that they currently are working with to locate in Indiana. Sen. Leising asked how many of those are Chinese. The answer: all nine of them. Now that’s concerning—and that should be concerning to all of us,” he said.
Culp adds that the bill goes beyond food security. It’s a matter of national security.
“We had a gentleman named Brian Cavanaugh who flew in from Washington D.C. to testify for Sen. Leising’s Ag Committee. Cavanaugh was on the National Security Council during the Trump Administration, and he says there’s every reason to be concerned about why these foreign entities are wanting to come in here. This is Communist China, and maybe they want to do good things, but you don’t know who is giving them the money that is behind them. If it’s the Chinese government, that should be concerning to us,” says Culp.
If Gov. Holcomb signs House Bill 1183 into law, it would take effect beginning July 1, 2024.
Click HERE to read the final version of House Bill 1183.
Click below to hear watch Rep. Kendell Culp comment on House Bill 1183 last Wednesday during the “Taste of Shelby County Agriculture” banquet in Shelbyville. Culp’s comments on the bill begin at the 20:16 mark in the video below:
