Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs is being accused of “endangering state and national security” with her latest veto of legislation protecting Arizona military bases from Chinese threats.
The bill, SB 1109, sponsored by Arizona State Majority Leader Janae Shamp, would have banned the People’s Republic of China from purchasing, owning, or acquiring land in Arizona.
In recent years, China has acquired large tracts of land and other property near essential installations, including military bases in southern Arizona and elsewhere. China has also acquired land near critical infrastructure, and sensitive corporate areas, with a goal of conducting surveillance and collecting data on important U.S. assets, as well as to monitor the leaders and workers who manage those assets. Critics of China say that by having access to this land, it can also position autonomous arsenal, such as drone swarms, and would have the ability to launch an attack on military bases or other sensitive areas considered critical to national security in the event of a conflict.
“With every politically motivated veto of public safety legislation put on her desk by Republicans, Governor Katie Hobbs continues to violate her oath of office she swore to uphold by endangering the lives and livelihoods of all Arizonans,” said Shamp. “SB 1109 was a commonsense security measure to ensure enemies of the United States would not have easy access to our military bases and critical infrastructure to carry out harm. Luke Air Force Base recently faced this very real danger. It is utterly insane that Arizona’s top elected official would rather be an obstructionist against safeguarding our citizens from threats than to sign legislation giving our state a fighting chance at proactively preventing attacks. Hobbs is a total disgrace. I pray Arizonans are paying attention to her self-serving, hyper-partisan track record because the future of our state is in jeopardy so long as she continues on this trajectory.”
Hobbs, who has been dubbed the “Veto Queen,” has vetoed other public safety legislation intended to protect Arizona communities from harm and strengthened national security including SB 1027, the Secure Telecommunications Act of 2025. That bill would have banned any critical telecommunications infrastructure within the State of Arizona from using equipment manufactured by a foreign adversary.
Hobbs also vetoed SB 1066 would have prohibited land in Arizona from being conveyed to a hostile foreign entity.