Minn. House passes House File 16, a data-center tax and oversight package

The Minnesota House of Representatives passed House File 16, a bill relating to data centers, after members suspended the House rules to give the bill its final reading and place it on final passage.

Representative Niska of Anoka moved to suspend the rules under Article IV, Section 19 of the Minnesota Constitution so the House could consider House File 16 immediately; the motion prevailed. The clerk later announced, “There being 85 ayes and 43 nays, the bill is passed and its title is agreed to,” after a roll call that included remote votes such as Olsen voting yes.

Representative Davids, the bill’s author and the member from Fillmore, said the measure reflects a negotiated agreement and described its main provisions: it creates a “very large” customer subclass for data centers, requires data centers that use more than 100,000,000 gallons of water per year to provide pre-application information to the Department of Natural Resources, creates a fee on qualified…