Stateline: Arkansas, Louisiana among states that don’t report revenue losses from data center tax breaks, study says

A recent report by the watchdog group Good Jobs First reveals that 14 U.S. states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah, are failing to disclose the revenue losses incurred from data center tax breaks. This lack of transparency, which the group argues often violates Governmental Accounting Standards Board guidelines, stands in contrast to states like Georgia, Virginia, and Texas, which report over $1 billion in annual losses from such incentives. The report's author, Greg LeRoy, criticized these abatements as "out of control" and harmful to public budgets, in addition to being "extractive of electricity, water, and land." The study highlights increasing public scrutiny of data centers due to concerns over rising electricity prices and environmental impacts. In a notable development, Maine lawmakers recently approved the nation's first statewide moratorium on new data centers larger than 20 megawatts, pending the governor's action. This legislation, effective until November 2027, also establishes a new state council to guide future policy regarding data centers. Good Jobs First recommends that all states fully report their data center tax break losses, including impacts on local revenue.