Florida has made more moves than any state in fighting the Chinese Communist Party. Now a legislative measure that prevents Chinese investment in American land is coming back up again as the Florida Department of Agriculture checks the bill and may challenge it.
Governor Ron DeSantis has launched the SecureFlorida Portal, where foreign principals from foreign countries of concern like China must register property. These registration requirements for foreign principals were created by Senate Bill 264—signed by Governor DeSantis (R-FL) in May as part of what the Governor's office calls "the strongest legislation in the nation counteracting the malign influence of the People’s Republic of China and other countries of concern".
“Protecting Floridians and Florida’s infrastructure from agents like the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries is important to our state’s security,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.“I am proud to have signed the strongest legislation in the nation to fight back against foreign malign influence.”
Brewster Bevis of the AIF recently stated, "Florida state agencies are being very thoughtful about how they implement SB 264 through the rule making process at several state agencies. AIF has called attention to the fact that there is a major risk of affecting real estate investment in Florida where passive Chinese investors have only a 5% piece of the fund’s investment. These funds would be controlled only by American citizens because passive investors – even if foreign nationals - have no ability to direct the fund’s actions or even access information on the fund’s assets."
The review of SB 264 definitely draws attention to some serious kinks in the legislation that DeSantis heavily supported. However, maybe paying so much attention to appeasing conservative talking points distracts from accurate policy making.
