LETTER: Habush-Sinykin data center bill fails to give voters a say 

To Ozaukee Press:

State Sen. Jodi Habush-Sinykin has introduced legislation that would regulate data centers, stating that her bill is meant to fill a regulatory void in Wisconsin, where the only mention of data centers in state statutes is for their tax incentives. Perhaps she is making reference to the tax exemptions for data centers contained in Assembly Bill 140 that was enacted into law on July 8 by the governor as 2025 Wisconsin Act 16. 

This was the legislation that paved the way for municipalities to allow data centers to be part of a tax incremental district without any limits or regulations whatsoever. Previously the limit had been set at 12%. 

The senators who co-sponsored Assembly Bill 140 were Dan Freyen and Jodi Habush-Sinykin. At the time of it’s passage, Habush-Sinykin claimed that the Vantage Data Centers project would create hundreds or even thousands of good paying jobs and would meaningfully expand the local tax base of Port Washington.

Well, that was then and this is now, and on Nov. 6 she stated that Assembly Bill 140 was requested by the City of Port Washington and was focused on providing the city with the financial flexibility to protect local taxpayers. 

It’s some interesting political spin but, sorry senator, your bill greased the skids,  allowing for massive data center development in Wisconsin.

Sinykin’s newly proposed legislation is lacking because it does not address voter control over the data center approval process by mandating that a binding referendum be held by a municipality before a data center can be built there. 

It’s little wonder why politicians who advance the construction of data centers, the unions that build them and the hyperscalers that will profit from them are fearful of referendums. 

In Port Washington, it is clear that the overwhelming majority of the voters don’t want a data center. Let them be heard by way of a referendum.

James Parez

Grafton