Governor Signs Commons Bill

The governor recently ceremonially signed into law legislation sponsored by State Rep. Matt Commons (R-Williamsport) tocrack down on foreign adversaries and their influence in Indiana’s political, academic and economic sectors.

Commons said Senate Enrolled Act 256 creates one of the strongest foreign adversary transparency frameworks in the country by expanding protections on Indiana land from prohibited foreign actors, securing our research institutions from hostile interference, safeguarding critical state technology contracts and preventing them from accessing state resources.

“From contracts to land ownership, Indiana is taking action to ensure our sensitive and critical resources are protected,” Commons said. “This new law continues our efforts to identify and reduce potential threats from foreign adversaries.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce maintains a list of adversarial countries including Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. Senate Enrolled Act 256 expands current policy restricting foreign adversaries from owning farmland and further limits acquiring or leasing land in Indiana. It also prohibits affiliates of foreign terrorist organizations from accessing state resources including funding, contracts, jobs and tax benefits.

State-funded entities are also banned from providing them any financial support. Commons said intellectual property will be protected by requiring students from adversarial countries, who are not dual citizens or permanent residents of the U.S., to pass a security review before being admitted into qualifying programs such as engineering, computer science and more at state education institutions.

Learn more about SEA 256 by visiting iga.in.gov.

Commons represents House District 13, which includes all of Benton and Warren counties, and portions of Fountain, Jasper, Montgomery, Newton, Tippecanoe and White counties.