Data centers in Wisconsin pay no sales tax after a 2023 law was signed. David Crowley said he would ‘absolutely’ repeal that

Public polling suggests data centers remain unpopular, but they are continuing to be built and operating, while Wisconsin is giving them a tax break.

State lawmakers are looking to reverse course on a data center sales tax exemption and the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin governor David Crowley said he would sign the bill if elected on Nov. 3.

A 2023-25 budget provision granting a sales tax exemption to data centers was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July 2023.

As the data center boom continues, Wisconsinities lose out on more than $2 billion in sales tax revenue, mostly from massive data centers in Beaver Dam, Port Washington and Mount Pleasant, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Noticing the mistake, four Republican lawmakers proposed a repeal of the exemption this month. But the Wisconsin Legislature hasn’t been in session since March, an intentional plan by Republicans to not do their jobs or work with the governor to get legislation done.

Crowley was asked at a town hall styled event on Oct. 14 if he would repeal the sales tax exemption.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I would sign it because we want to provide that relief.

“I’ll be honest with you, the fact that these tech companies are getting billions of dollars in tax breaks, it’s being delivered on the backs of hard-working families.”

Crowley’s opponent, Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, has attempted to paint the Milwaukee County Executive as a friend to data centers, a stance that would have him at odds with the more progressive wing of his party, who support a full moratorium on construction of data centers.

Opponents of a moratorium say it could cause an economic recession and nullifying agreements could set up the state for litigation. In 2015, Wisconsin agreed to pay train maker Talgo $9.7 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from a decision by former Gov. Scott Walker to drop a plan to use its cars on a passenger rail line between Milwaukee and Chicago.

But Tiffany is playing politics here. He himself has an atrocious record on data centers having fostered in federal policy while in Congress.

“I know my opponent, he’s consistently trying to run away from his record when it comes down to data centers. You all see the commercials,” Crowley said.

“I want to be very clear about my position. We’re going to be aggressive when it comes down to holding data centers accountable. Making sure that we protect our land, protect our water, and have strict environmental standards.

“But also communities need to have a seat at the table. If a community doesn’t want a data center, they will not be forced to have a data center. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about that.

“But (Tiffany), I think he kinda forgot that he voted to give $70 billion to these tech companies that have been steamrolling our communities today with these data centers. He’s running away from the fact that he was the deciding vote to actually put a 10-year ban on artificial intelligence regulations for states like Wisconsin. But he also voted to fast track the development of data centers in this country without any environmental standards or without local communities actually having a seat at the table.”

Crowley said it’s about “making sure we protect ourselves from data centers extracting resources from our state. I would argue we need to extract as much as possible from these data centers. They should be subsidizing our energy use, our utility bills.”