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FACT BRIEF

Did Gov. Joe Lombardo write a 'blank check' to data centers?

By Tabitha Mueller on 09/14/2026

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.

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