Texas House advances bill that would prohibit land sales to people and entities from certain countries

The Texas House passed a bill Friday that lets the governor determine the countries whose residents, governments and other entities could be banned from buying property here.

Members granted the governor such power when they amended Senate Bill 17 Thursday night, whose real estate sales restrictions were previously limited to countries that the U.S. national director of intelligence has designated as national security threats. Currently, that list includes only China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

On Friday, the House voted 86-59 to pass the bill. It now heads back to the Senate where the House amendments must be approved before the bill could be sent to the governor.