“Voted Nay on Minnesota HF 16, the two-sided data center package that extended the equipment tax exemption to 35 years while adding a peak-demand fee and water permits”

The Minnesota Senate passed HF 16 on final passage the same day the House did, sending Minnesota's data center package to the governor as 2025 1st Special Session Chapter 12. The bill extended the sales and use tax exemption on data center equipment and software from 20 to 35 years from a facility's first qualifying purchase - striking the prior "or by June 30, 2042, whichever is earlier" cap while still requiring certification before July 1, 2042 - and created a new "qualified large-scale data center" category eligible for it. At the same time it imposed a $2-5 million annual fee tiered on peak electricity demand under new Minn. Stat. 216B.72, added water-appropriation permit requirements, authorized a clean energy and capacity tariff, and attached prevailing wage and sustainable-building certification conditions. The repeal of the separate sales tax exemption on data center electricity purchases was enacted the same day in the omnibus tax bill, HF 9 (Chapter 13), not in HF 16. Because the bill both expanded and conditioned the tax break, and because the 26 no votes combined environmental/consumer DFL members with conservative Republicans, individual stances are recorded as mixed. The journal roll call does not print party, so no party is recorded for these members. Outcome: Passed - yeas 40, nays 26; became 2025 1st Special Session Chapter 12 Recorded vote: Nay. Body: Minnesota Senate. Measure: MN HF 16 (2025 1st Special Session).