Overview
- Lawmakers left for summer recess after passing a capital budget but did not agree on permanent rules for large data centers, with a joint select committee continuing hearings instead of finalizing legislation.
- Governor Mike DeWine imposed a temporary pause on sales‑tax exemptions for data‑center projects, a move that committee members said they welcomed as they probe fiscal and infrastructure impacts.
- State Rep. Tristan Rader has filed a bill to permanently repeal the sales‑tax exemption and his office released a figure claiming a $1.6 billion 2025 revenue loss from the break, a number that is being disputed.
- Officials and community leaders gave hours of testimony about rapid data‑center growth, warning that local governments often lack planning tools and may struggle with added electricity demand and heavy water use.
- With the Senate unlikely to return before fall and an active ballot‑initiative campaign seeking stricter limits or a ban, the debate over jobs, local costs, grid upgrades and water use is likely to play out over months rather than weeks.