Lawmakers kill bid to entice data centers to South Dakota with tax exemptions
Speaker of the House Jon Hansen criticizes lack of transparency, prioritizing tech companies over homegrown businesses
PIERRE – Hyperscale data centers will not be exempt from sales taxes in South Dakota following the defeat of a bill Wednesday morning that would have granted them 50 years of exemptions.
House Bill 1005 would have put the state in line with about 40 other states that don’t tax the hardware and software used by large-scale data centers. Supporters of exempting data centers argue they require as much as $1 billion to $2 billion in investment. Adding a 6.2 percent state and local sales tax to that investment makes South Dakota uncompetitive with other states.
The sales tax exemption would have applied to any project started in the next 10 years.
Governor’s Office, lawmakers square off over SNAP soda ban
PIERRE – South Dakota would join a majority of states that are seeking to exclude soda as a qualified food under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with a bill that sailed through the House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday.
