BLAIR LEE III, Acting Governor

2993

It appears that foreign firms are buying up large
parcels of prime agricultural land in the United States.
There is some indication that Maryland is not immune from
this recent trend of foreign investment.

Maryland farmland is a limited asset, necessary for our
continued survival.

Although there are no laws in Maryland restricting the
right of foreign ownership, and foreign investors are free
to purchase property in the State, the legislature has the
responsibility to keep an inventory of farmland which has
passed into the hands of foreign investors.

Absentee foreign landlords are not interested in better
roads and schools because this would mean higher taxes and
would bring less return on their investments. Foreign
investments in Maryland farmland may also have an effect on
farm prices, and may have other domestic and international
implications which are not apparent at this time. If
foreign investors buy a substantial proportion of American
farmland, what is to keep them from sending shipments of
foodstuffs directly back to their own country and neglecting
the reeds of local inhabitants. We need to know the extent
of foreign investment in farmland in Maryland and must have
some concrete figures on just how much land has been bought
with foreign dollars; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That
Acting Governor Lee direct the Department of State Planning,
the Department of Assessments and Taxation, and the
Department of Agriculture to study and report to the General
Assembly no later than the 1979 Session of the General
Assembly of the following:

1. The extent of purchases of Maryland farmland by
foreign firms and individuals, and

2. The future effect on agricultural land and
foodstuff prices of these foreign purchases; and be it
further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution      be sent to

Acting Governor Lee and the Secretaries of the    Department of

State Planning, Department of Assessments and    Taxation, and
the Secretary of Agriculture of Maryland.

Approved May 29, 1978.

No. 50

(House Joint Resolution 85)