Senate advances cryptocurrency payment bills after debate over data-center tax breaks

The Arizona Senate on Feb. 25 advanced legislation that would clear the way for limited use of digital assets by state agencies and amend related tax and property rules, after extended debate and an unsuccessful amendment aimed at repealing tax benefits for data centers.

Senator Wendy Rogers, sponsor of the package of bills concerning state payments and virtual currency, said the changes modernize how the state receives funds and noted technical amendments changing wording from “cryptocurrency” to “stablecoin.” “We need to get with the 21st century,” Rogers said during floor remarks in support of the bills.

Senator Denise Mitzi Epstein sought to use the vehicle to curb tax exemptions for data centers, offering a floor amendment that she described as a response to constituent concerns. “People across Arizona are seeing their electric bill skyrocket,” Epstein said, arguing local residents are “angry about the noise, the water, and the cost” and urging lawmakers to remove subsidies. Epstein also cited a constituent’s field measurements and quoted an engineer’s claim about a planned facility’s power draw relative to local households.

Senate leaders ruled the Epstein amendment not germane to the bill’s subject, a ruling the chamber first upheld in a standing division (counted 14 ayes, 10 nays) and later rejected on a recorded roll call on the procedural motion to amend the Committee of the Whole report (11 ayes, 16 nays, 3 not voting), meaning the amendment was not adopted.

Supporters of the bills, including Senator Mark Finchem, argued the measures were not corporate giveaways but a way for the state to receive virtual assets when used, that the statutory language preserves the state’s ability to regulate, and that the bills were amended to focus on “stablecoins” rather than the broader cryptocurrency concept. “This is not a corporate giveaway,” Finchem said, calling the bills authorization for the state to accept digital assets under controlled terms.

After committee and floor action, the bills were reported out of the Committee of the Whole and, later in the day, passed third reading. The record shows the Senate approved one of the measures (SB 10-43) on third reading; the clerk recorded the final tally and transmitted the bill to the House.

What’s next: The measures, as amended on the floor and through Committee of the Whole action, will be sent to the Arizona House for consideration. Lawmakers and stakeholders who pushed unsuccessfully to tie data-center taxation to the payments bills said they plan to pursue separate legislation or future amendments addressing local impacts and tax treatment.

Votes and procedure: The transcript records both the standing division and a subsequent roll call on the germaneness and amendment questions; it also records the Committee of the Whole recommending SB 10-43 as amended receive a due pass report and a later third-reading passage.