Sen. DeKay makes ag land ownership his Priority Bill

This week, I presented my priority bill for this year before members of the Agriculture Committee: LB1301.

This bill would adopt the Foreign-owned Real Estate National Security Act and bring our antiquated foreign land ownership statutes up to date.

Our statutes were first enacted in 1889 and many sections were last updated in 1943. The bill would modernize these statutes by restricting federally designated foreign adversaries from owning agricultural land, empowering the Attorney General and the Neb. Dept. of Agriculture to investigate violations, creating a mechanism for court-ordered divestment, and tightening existing exemptions.

LB1301 would designate foreign adversaries as “restricted entities” for purposes of the bill.

This designation would apply to persons, governments, or entities that are listed as foreign adversaries by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce or who appear on a sanctions list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. These restricted entities would be subject to greater restrictions on owning land in the state.

More latitude would be provided to restricted entities that have undergone the review process by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a federal committee tasked with examining the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. companies or operations before they can go forward. My intention with this bill is not to go after our country’s allies and those working with us in good faith. By choosing pre-existing federal lists, our statutes would not be applied arbitrarily and would be adaptable to new threats that could arise decades later.

Approximately 24 states currently forbid or limit foreign land ownership in their state. Nebraska is very fortunate to be one of those states with existing foreign land ownership laws. However, when I spoke to people on the campaign trail and during the interim, a fairly common concern I heard is who owns our state’s farmland. In the last couple of years, this topic has been in the news following reports of foreign companies purchasing land near sensitive military installations in other states. Nebraska is one of the most productive breadbaskets in the world, and the Legislature must update its statutes to ensure the state’s land is further protected from the undue influence of foreign adversaries.

Public hearings were also held on three of my other bills this week.

LB969 was heard by the Natural Resources Committee. This bill would increase the dollar threshold for the advertisement of sealed bids for public power districts.

Currently, in a district with a gross revenue of less than $500 million, the threshold is $250,000. In a district with a gross revenue of $500 million or more, the threshold is $500,000. In LB969, the threshold for the small districts would rise to $750,000 while the threshold for the large districts would rise to $2 million. Adjusting these thresholds would better reflect current costs and the needs of our public power districts.

LB1097 and LB1098 were both heard in the Judiciary Committee.

LB1097 would clarify that the required daily reimbursement rate the Department of Health and Human Services pays for mentally incompetent defendants in county jail is one hundred dollars after the first thirty days. The current law allows for a per diem rate plus costs. Setting a flat per diem would allow the Department to budget for costs more accurately. LB1098 would streamline the existing statutes pertaining to domestic abuse, sexual assault, and harassment protection orders by consolidating them under single act, the Protection Orders Act. The bill would also (a) enable a protection order issued under the act to be issued for an initial period of at least one year and no more than two years, set at the court’s discretion based upon the evidence presented, and (b) add the option to renew an existing harassment protection order. This bill was inspired by a request from a constituent seeking longer duration protection orders. In the course of drafting this bill, it came to my attention that our statutes were difficult to follow, making it difficult for victims to understand how to apply for and use protection orders.

My bill attempts to simplify our statutes by clearing out duplicate language across various statutes.

Contact me with your opinions on bills. My office number is (402) 471-2801 or email at bdekay@leg.ne.gov. My mailing address is: Sen. Barry DeKay, Dist. #40, P.O. Box 94604, State Capitol, Lincoln, NE 68509.