A bill that would limit tax breaks offered to data centers in Alabama has been sent to the state’s Governor for approval after being voted through by both legislative houses.

HB 399 was proposed by Representative Leigh Hulsey in the House in early February and moved to the Senate in early March, where the bill was approved last Thursday (April 9).

State bills need the approval of both legislative houses and the governor in order to be signed into law, and Alabama Governor Kay Ivey can either veto or approve the bill.

The bill would, among other things, “limit the maximum exemption period for abatements available to data processing centers to 20 years,” with an additional 10 years of abatement only available if a user satisfies certain investment requirements laid out in the bill.

These “qualified local investments” include: improvements to infrastructure like roads and bridges; broadband; water or wastewater systems; or education support.

Alabama’s data center exemptions are currently allowed to last for up to 30 years with no such requirements.

The bill would also require data centers offering more than 100MW of capacity to start paying state non-educational property taxes and sales and construction taxes once a data center has entered service.

Alabama is not one of the US’ main data center hotspots. Most of the state’s data centers are clustered around Birmingham, Montgomery, and Huntsville, which are its largest cities.

But it is clear that the industry’s interest in Alabama has generated local backlash that has now made its way to the state legislature.

Project Marvel, a 1,600-acre campus set to be built just outside of Birmingham in Bessemer, has attracted controversy ever since it was announced back in March.