What government is and isn't regulating in tech. From a Capitol insider turned founder.
 | Laura Luise Davis, Co-Founder & CBO at USLege |
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
I spent a decade in the rooms where laws get written: the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, state capitals, and contract lobbying. I have sat in more hearing rooms than I can count. Here is what keeps me up at night: the government is barely talking about the technology that is about to reorder everything.
This week voters did the talking. Data centers, the buildings that power AI, were on the ballot in 41 local measures and lost almost all of them. Four people just elected governor campaigned on pausing new ones. And Wall Street sold off on the news.
So this issue is one story told three ways: the election, the money, and the machines the money is for.
The future is in session, whether our legislatures show up for it or not.
Laura
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THE DATA CENTER ELECTION
Voters put AI's power plants on the ballot. The pause is now a platform.
What happened. Democrats won the Senate on November 3, the Associated Press reported, and the House after it. As of Sunday, AP counted 254 House seats for Democrats and 162 for Republicans, with 19 races still uncalled; Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska were still too close to call. In Texas, James Talarico (D) beat Ken Paxton (R) for the Senate, and Gina Hinojosa (D) unseated Gov. Greg Abbott (R), KUT reported.
Voters sided against data centers in 40 of 41 local ballot measures in 10 states; the one exception was Harwood, North Dakota, CNBC reported from Ballotpedia data. And four new governors ran on pausing them:
- Texas, Gina Hinojosa (D). A moratorium on new data center approvals until the Legislature passes "real protections so Texans can have a seat at the table to decide if and how data centers come into their communities," per the Texas Tribune. She also wants to end data center tax subsidies and keep household power bills from rising because of them.
- Ohio, Amy Acton (D). A conditional moratorium: data centers must cover their full utility costs, use union labor, meet environmental standards and sign community benefit agreements. "Ohio is open for business, but we are not up for sale," she said in July, WYSU reported. Her opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy (R), proposed his own first-day order halting new data center approvals until the legislature passed his conditions, News5 Cleveland reported.
- Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms (D). An executive order for a temporary moratorium on new data center approvals in what she calls one of the top data center states in the country, plus a review of tax incentive deals, WRDW reported.
- New Mexico, Deb Haaland (D). An executive order on her first day pausing new large-scale data center projects until a regulatory framework is in place, Source NM reported.
The pause is not a one-party idea. Texas already has one: in August, Gov. Abbott (R) ordered an audit of data centers waiting to plug into the state grid, and state grid approvals and environmental permits for them are on hold until it finishes, expected in December, the Texas Tribune reported. Hinojosa has called for going further.
What was said. "When I am governor I will issue a moratorium... on all data center approvals."
Gina Hinojosa, then candidate for governor of Texas, in a video posted to X on Oct 22, 2026, via the Texas Tribune.
In Washington, the argument is over who pays:
"Our neighbors should not be stuck paying for the energy infrastructure of the wealthiest companies in the world." Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) · U.S. House floor, Sep 15, 2026
The President has argued towns should want them:
"If I were running a state or a town, if I was a mayor or a governor, I would want as many data centers as I can." President Donald Trump · The White House, Sep 4, 2026
In Texas, the money question started before the election. A state senator, a different Hinojosa, told Senate Finance the data center sales tax break would cost far more than lawmakers first projected:
"When we first passed legislation... the projection on the amount of sales tax revenue we would lose was grossly underestimated... Now projected to be $3,300,000,000." Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) · Texas Senate Finance, Jul 27, 2026
What tech is saying. AI super PACs on both sides of the safety debate spent $79 million across 68 House and Senate seats. Most Republicans they backed in the closest races lost; Leading the Future's pick in Florida, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D), won, TNW reported. "Voters in both parties delivered the same verdict tonight," said Brad Carson, head of Public First Action, which backs stronger AI safeguards. Fast Company argued the results were not the rebuke many expected. Elon Musk posted: "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now."
▪ IS ANYONE REGULATING THIS?
Yes: 21 states have data center rules in force. Two have pauses in force, both ordered by governors. One is Texas's. The other is New York's Executive Order 62, signed July 14 by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), which holds state environmental permits for data centers of 50 megawatts or more until the state finishes an environmental review. The Legislature's stricter 20-megawatt version, A 11560 (Asm. Didi Barrett, D), passed both chambers June 4 and, per the USLege record, has not been sent to the governor. Now Texas, Ohio, Georgia and New Mexico take it up with new governors. The 50-state map is below.
Will this keep happening? Most legislatures return in January.
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THE HEAT MAP
Has your state put statewide limits on data centers, or rolled out the welcome mat? Checked law by law, Nov 8, 2026.
| AL | AK | AZ | AR | CA | CO | CT | DE | FL |
| GA | HI | ID | IL | IN | IA | KS | KY | LA |
| ME | MD | MA | MI | MN | MS | MO | MT | NE |
| NV | NH | NJ | NM | NY | NC | ND | OH | OK |
| OR | PA | RI | SC | SD | TN | TX | UT | VT |
| VA | WA | WV | WI | WY | DC |
COLOR KEY rules in force · new tax breaks, no limits · mixed, pending or pause pledged · no statewide law found
- Rules in force (21). Pauses ordered by governors: NY EO 62; TX grid audit plus SB 6. Make data centers pay their own grid costs: AZ HB 2756, DE HB 233, ID H 911, MD SB 937, MO SB 4, NE LB 1010, NJ A796, OK HB 2992, OR HB 3546, SD SB 135, TN HB 1847, VA HB 1393. Tax breaks narrowed: IA HF 976, ME LD 713, NC S 257, UT HB 507, WA SB 6231. Energy and water reporting: CA AB 1577, PA SB 146.
- Mixed, pending or pause pledged (11). New governors who pledged a pause: GA, NM, OH (OH also has HB 646 pending). Bills pending: IL SB 3830, MA H 5576, MI HB 5594 (a Republican-sponsored moratorium). Limits and new tax breaks both enacted: AL SB 270, FL SB 484, IN HB 1007, KS SB 98, MN HF 16.
- New tax breaks, no limits (4). AR HB 1444, MT HB 424, WI Act 16, WV HB 2014.
- Rules passed in Republican-led and Democratic-led states alike. Maine's Gov. Janet Mills (D) vetoed a moratorium, LD 307. KY, LA and NV governors set conditions by executive order, but no statewide law (shown blue). City and county moratoriums do not color a state; D.C. not scored.
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ALSO THIS WEEK
Wall Street heard the election too.
What happened. On Thursday, November 5, the Dow fell 1,833 points, or 3.4 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 5.5 percent, into a correction, CBS News reported. Nvidia fell 9.2 percent and AMD 17.3 percent. CBS tied the drop to concern that a shift in control of Congress could slow data center construction. Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge wrote that the rout could delay Anthropic's initial public offering, which had been expected this month.
What was said. "If the midterm means more focus on data centers and communities, we're going to keep doing the work to get into those communities..."
Sarah Friar, CFO, OpenAI, to CNBC, Nov 6, 2026.
At a House hearing, the America First Policy Institute made the same who-pays point as Rep. Castor:
"The customer that creates a new cost should bear it." Ted Ellis, Deputy Director of Energy and Environment, America First Policy Institute · House Small Business, Sep 2, 2026
▪ IS ANYONE REGULATING THIS?
Congress came close. H.R. 9340, the Ratepayer Protection Act (Rep. Gabe Evans, R-CO, with 42 cosponsors from both parties, including Rep. Castor) would set a federal standard that data centers of 100 megawatts or more pay the full cost of the grid upgrades they need, with state regulators deciding whether to adopt it. It passed the House 417-3 on September 16. In the Senate, a motion to take it up got 57 votes on September 30, three short of the 60 needed. It is still on the Senate calendar.
A humanoid robot cleaned a reporter's bathroom. A remote pilot helped.
What happened. Tau Robotics, a San Francisco startup, sends humanoid robots about 4.5 feet tall into homes to clean. On November 6, MIT Technology Review published Grace Huckins's account of two visits: the robot cleaned the toilet, reattaching a wand head that fell off three times, but stalled on the first visit and knocked over the olive oil on the second. Human pilots steer it through cameras in its head and wrists; the footage trains its AI. The service is in beta, with sign-ups by waitlist; it now costs $60 for a weekly cleaning with two robots.
What was said. "Cleaning is not a job that a lot of people really actively want to be doing."
Cornelia Weinzierl, Cofounder, Tau Robotics, to MIT Technology Review, Nov 6, 2026.
In Congress, the robot debate is about China:
"I would say the U.S. is leading innovation, and China is leading in actual deployment." Michael Robbins, President and CEO, AUVSI · House Energy and Commerce, Jul 22, 2026
▪ IS ANYONE REGULATING THIS?
Not for robots in your home. The federal robot bills are about who builds them: the GUARD Act, H.R. 9129 (Rep. John Moolenaar, R-MI) would review Chinese-linked humanoid and quadruped robots for the FCC's covered list and awaits full committee; the Humanoid ROBOT Act, S. 3275 (Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA) would bar federal agencies from buying them and sits in Senate Banking. In the USLege record we found no bill, federal or state, on a remotely piloted robot recording inside a private home.
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KEEPING SCORE
TECH ▲
Wall Street repriced the data center build in one trading day.
GOVERNMENT ▽
New governors take office in January. Texas lawmakers meet January to May 2027, then not again in regular session until 2029. Ohio and New York meet year-round. The new Congress convenes in January.
THE LAG
Until then, the rules come from executive orders, grid audits and local votes.
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THE BIG QUESTION
Some legislatures meet every year. Texas meets for 140 days every other year. When a new industry moves faster than the calendar, should a governor be able to pause it until lawmakers return? Or should building go on while the rules are written? Tell me where you land.
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WHO'S WRITING
| Laura Luise Davis, Capitol insider to tech founder. |
I'm a lobbyist turned founder turned coder. I know a lot of lobbyists. And legislators. And agency leaders. They're my customers. Now I spend hours every day inside AI, sharing what I'm realizing and what government is and isn't regulating. This is not a how-to. It's a warning about what's coming.
WHO IT'S FOR
Tech: Cool. DM me if you need help.
Gov: You need to learn what's happening in tech.
Lobby: You're really going to want to read this.
Send this to someone. Know a founder about to get blindsided by a state law, or a policy person who'd rather see it coming? Forward this. SESSION grows by word of mouth.
Are you in tech and want to be on my podcast, Bills & Business? Reach out to me: [email protected].
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SOURCES: AP via PBS; KUT; CNBC; Texas Tribune; WYSU; Ohio Capital Journal; WRDW; Source NM; TNW; Fast Company; CBS News; MIT Technology Review; state legislatures; congress.gov; USLege.