(From left) Republican Reps. DeAnn Vaught, Stetson Painter and Mindy McAlindon listen to Sen. Howard Beaty discuss his legislation that would regulate financial activities and affiliations with Chinese entities within Arkansas during a press conference on Feb. 26, 2025. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
Arkansas lawmakers joined the governor Wednesday in announcing legislation that will ban certain interactions between state entities and China.
The Communist China Defense legislative package will contain six bills, some of which have not yet been filed, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during a press conference at the Capitol. The bills’ lead sponsors are Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, and Republican Reps. Howard Beaty Jr. of Crossett, Mindy McAlindon of Centerton, Brit McKenzie of Rogers, Stetson Painter of Mountain Home and DeAnn Vaught of Horatio.
State officials in 2023 took steps to force a Chinese government-owned agricultural company to divest itself of 160 acres in Craighead County, in accordance with Act 636 of 2023, which prohibits certain foreign-controlled businesses from owning Arkansas land.
Sanders said she was proud to be the first governor “to kick China off of our farmland and out of our state.” The proposed legislation will expand on that law by prohibiting the owning or leasing of property near “critical infrastructure” like military bases and electric substations, and shorten the time a banned company has to divest, according to a press release.
The bills will also ban lobbying “on behalf of communist China, Russia and other adversaries.” State-supported entities, including colleges and state retirement systems, will also be required to divest from China, Sanders said.
“We want to continue to put people on notice. We want China to know we’re taking this seriously and that they’re not going to be able to set up shop to do Arkansans harm,” she said. “That’s part of the point of today is to make sure they know that we’re taking their activity and their role and their proposed interference and influence very seriously and we’re not going to tolerate it in the state of Arkansas.”
Beaty said a bill he filed last month will “enforce strict regulations” on financial activities and affiliations with Chinese entities within Arkansas. House Bill 1352 would allow the state to withhold funding for state-supported colleges and universities that have a Confucius Institute or similar institute related to the People’s Republic of China, including a Chinese cultural center.
A federal government report in October 2023 noted there are fewer than five Confucius Institutes left in the U.S. since Congress restricted federal funding to schools with institutes.
Under HB 1352, state-supported institutions of higher education would also be prohibited from investing in Chinese funds, and municipalities would be banned from having sister cities in China.
Beaty said he is working on amendments, but plans to run to legislation and get it on the floor “expeditiously.”
“It’s time that we focus on Arkansas and make sure that outside interests that are here for no good other than attacking our state and our nation, they know where we stand, and we point them out and identify them,” he said.
Two bills sponsored by McAlindon would prohibit state agencies from using public funds to purchase promotional items made in China, and prohibit procurement of electric vehicles that are linked to forced labor, she said.
“By putting transparency, accountability and economic safety first, we are standing firm against foreign influence,” McAlindon said.
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