Senate amends blockchain bill to preserve municipal power over crypto‑mining; bill forwarded to finance

The Senate on the floor amended House Bill 639, which addresses blockchain disputes and rules affecting cryptocurrency-mining operations, to preserve municipal authority to restrict or ban mining within local jurisdictions. The amendment (0291S) was offered on the floor and approved by voice vote, and the bill, as amended, was ordered to the Committee on Finance.

Senator Innes, who offered the amendment, said the change "would enable a town to deny crypto mining in their communities" and described the amendment as restoring local control while still allowing innovation. Senator Ricciardi, reporting for the Commerce Committee, had urged caution and originally recommended referral to interim study because facilities that generate digital assets require continuous, high levels of electricity and water and have produced noise complaints in other communities. "It is unknown how increased energy and water demand would affect communities and taxpayers," he said.

Other senators who spoke during the discussion raised questions about who would bear higher electricity costs and whether state-level policy would preempt local zoning and noise controls. Senator Fenton framed the amendment as a compromise that returns regulatory discretion to municipalities while preserving the bill's goals.

After the amendment’s adoption, the Senate voted that the bill "ought to pass as amended" and sent it to the Committee on Finance for budgetary and fiscal consideration.

What happens next: The Finance Committee will review the amended bill and any fiscal notes and return recommendations to the full Senate. The House-origin bill remains open to further amendment in committee.

Votes and procedural steps recorded in the transcript: the motion to refer HB639 to interim study was debated and rejected on the floor; amendment 0291S was adopted; the bill was ordered to the Committee on Finance as "ought to pass as amended."