FACT BRIEF
Did Gov. Joe Lombardo write a 'blank check' to data centers?
No.

Nevada's government provided more than $240 million in sales and use tax breaks for data centers under Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) and his predecessor, Gov. Steve Sisolak (D), in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
But Lombardo did not establish the data center tax break program, which passed in 2015 and was supported by Democrats and Republicans, including Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), who co-sponsored the legislation when he was Senate majority leader.
Those tax breaks also specifically refer to foregone tax revenue via abatements, not cash handed over by the government, making a "blank check" metaphor politically resonant but false.
The 2015 legislation gave data centers tax breaks, meaning the state could theoretically receive less tax revenue than it otherwise would have, but it did not pay data centers directly.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Sources
- State of Nevada Department of Taxation Nevada Tax Expenditure Reports
- Nevada Legislature Senate Bill 170
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