Maine’s House unanimously passed a bill forbidding state and local government from contracting with businesses affiliated with hostile foreign governments, just one day after Democrats killed another bill meant to combat Chinese organized crime in Maine.
[RELATED: Triad Weed: Maine House Votes Down Bill Aimed at Fighting Transnational Organized Crime…]
“I am recognizing the increasing threat that China is to the U.S. and at the local level. And it’s not something that local governments, state governments are generally accustomed. We’re not accustomed to thinking about our foreign adversaries and national security. But national security is now a matter of state interest because we are being targeted on the state level,” said Sen. Lisa Keim (R-Oxford) speaking to The Maine Wire.
On Wednesday, Maine’s house passed LD 877 with unanimous support from representatives.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Keim, forbids any state or local government entities from contracting with, or otherwise transferring funds to companies based in adversarial nations which are deemed to pose any kind of national security risk.
Keim initially told The Maine Wire that she spoke to both U.S. Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) about her bill, because they sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“I talked to them both about this bill. And they said it’s, it is essential, it’s essential that we protect ourselves at the state level and this is a start but we need to go further,” said Keim speaking to The Maine Wire.
Keim contacted The Maine Wire after the publication of this story to clarify that she did not talk to Sens king and Collins about her bill, but she instead talked to them about national security and China in general.
Maine’s Chief Information Officer will be required to compile a list of “foreign adversary business entities” which will be prohibited from doing business with government entities and submitting bids for government contracts.
The bill also requires the compilation of a list of prohibited foreign communication and information technology businesses and services, which government entities will be forbidden to acquire any information from or use the services of for any other purposes.
This list would likely include the Chinese-affiliated TikTok, a widely popular social media website which has been recognized by numerous government officials to pose a security risk because it can be used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to spy on Americans, steal sensitive information, and manipulate user behavior.
[RELATED: Potential TikTok Ban Passes U.S. House of Reps with Strong Bipartisan Support…]
This prohibition does not apply to law enforcement if they need information from a prohibited information service for an investigation.
The new bill provides a broad definition of what businesses are considered affiliated with foreign adversaries, requiring only that a company be based on the soil of a foreign adversary, not that the company must be directly affiliated with the government of that adversary.
Any business submitting a bid for a state or local contract must certify that it is not affiliated with a foreign adversary.
If it is determined that a business entity lied about this on a bid, it will be fined double the amount of the contract for which the bid was submitted, or a minimum of $250,000, whichever is larger.
State and local government will be required to take steps to ensure that, even in the case of contracts with businesses not directly affiliated with foreign adversaries, no funds are transferred to adversarial entities indirectly.
When the bill was first proposed, it was called “An Act to Prohibit State Contracts with Companies Owned or Operated by the Government of the People’s Republic of China” but the name has since been amended to “An Act to Increase Cybersecurity in Maine.”
Along with the name change, the amendment removed all references to the CCP, but also significantly expanded the bill, defining foreign business entities and applying it to all foreign adversaries rather than just China.
Foreign adversaries include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba, according to a list maintained by the U.S. State Department.
The bill received strong supporting testimony from non-legislative sources, such as a 26-page report from China Tech Threat, a group dedicated to mitigating the national security threats posed by Chinese tech involvement in U.S. government.
According to the testimony, all Chinese tech companies are bound by a 2017 “National Intelligence Law” to obey the commands of the CCP, including commands to steal sensitive information.
The testimony highlighted multiple tech companies, including Lexmark and Lenovo, which steal personal data on behalf of the CCP, along with multiple state agencies across the country which contract with compromised Chinese affiliated companies.
These agencies include the Delaware Department of Elections, the Massachusetts Department of Homeland Security, and the New Hampshire State Legislature.
“I am submitting this testimony to reinforce that China is a threat to America’s
economic and national security not just at the federal level but importantly at the state
and local level as well. We remain vulnerable to Chinese influence operations at all
levels of governance,” said James Marks of China Tech Threat, a former U.S. military intelligence officer.
The Maine Wire reached out to State Armor, a group dedicated to helping states pass local laws intended to combat national security risks, particularly focusing on the risks posed by the CCP.
“This is a move in the right direction to prohibit procurement from Chinese companies, really every state should do that,” Michael Lucci of State Armor told the Maine Wire.
The amended bill required a fiscal note, which stated that it is unlikely to have a significant fiscal impact, because the costs of establishing a database of prohibited businesses, and legal fees will be outweighed by fines imposed for violations of the law.
The insignificant fiscal impact of the bill makes it unlikely that it will be stopped by the Committee on Appropriation and Financial Affairs for posing a strain on the state budget.
While Sen. Keim’s bill received strong, bipartisan support, with no Democrats voicing opposition to the bill during the house proceedings on Wednesday, House Democrats, alongside six Republicans, killed a bill on Tuesday that was also aimed at combatting the threat of transnational criminal organizations with ties to adversarial nations.
That bill, proposed by Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris), would have prevented citizens of foreign adversarial nations from purchasing real estate in Maine.
It would consequently have prohibited property transfers to individuals living in adversarial nations, such as the transfer facilitated this year by Gov. Janet Mills’ brother Paul Mills, involving an illegal, Chinese operated marijuana grow site, which was gifted to a foreign national living in Guangdong Province, China.
Rep. Andrews’ bill would also have established a “Little RICO” law, allowing individual criminals to be charged as part of a criminal conspiracy, which would have aided law enforcement in their attempts to crack down on the hundreds of Chinese operated illegal marijuana grow sites in the state.
That bill ultimately failed with an 84-61 vote.
It is unclear why the two very similar bills received such radically different responses from the House.
As legislators are making attempts to curtail Chinese crime and infiltration in Maine, law enforcement has continued to struggle to take action against the hundreds illegal marijuana sites identified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Currently, only 31 properties have been raided in Maine, and 31 arrests made, despite over 270 sites operating across the state, per DHS.
Updated to add an amendment to statements provided by Keim after the publication of this article.
Yes let’s stop contracts with Israel ASAP! They are trying to drag us to WW3. Watch for attacks coming during passover.
I hope the 6 day was a lescon
…well, ain’t that rich! State and local governments probably don’t do business with Chinese illegal pot grows anyway! Bill means nothing. The legislature voted down the bill to combat Triad weed last week! That bill would have had teeth. Useless!
A little late ain’t it. These “foreign entities” will with a bit of effort figure out workarounds most likely.
I’m more concerned about the triad weed.not tiktok… that is only 20% owned by the Chinese. Facebook spies on us and helps the U.S. government