there’s been talks of bills in the works but this will be the first bill passed into law, coming from a municipal government in port washington, wisconsin. the bill passed with 66% of the vote.

A Wisconsin city passed a referendum Tuesday targeting data center construction, requiring future large-scale projects that receive tax benefits to secure approval from local voters.

The referendum requires that the approval of a tax benefit, known as tax incremental financing, for projects with a base value or costs of more than $10 million be put to a vote in the community.

i love this statement from Christine Le Jeune, who was dragged out of a meeting for passionately opposing the construction of a new data center in the same city.

“Tonight, democracy worked the way it’s supposed to,” Le Jeune said in a statement. “Over 1,000 residents signed the petition that put this measure on the ballot, and tonight Port Washington voters spoke with one clear voice. The people deserve a seat at the table when their tax dollars are on the line.”

people are really not happy with these data centers, and a lot of the disquiet is coming out of rural/red towns which are the prime target for data center construction.

Twenty data center projects worth about combined $98 billion were blocked or delayed between March and June 2025

keep pushing!!