Hochul Still Holds New York's Data Center and Health Data Bills; Illinois Revives the POWER Act; Texas Files Solar and Farm Repair Bills

The bottom line today

The ballots are counted, or close to it, and the statehouses’ unfinished business is back on the desk. In Albany, 388 bills passed in June still need a decision from Gov. Kathy Hochul, according to City & State [1]. Illinois lawmakers return November 17 [5] with data center rules the governor asked them to finish [7]. And Texas opened bill filing for 2027 today [15]. The most expensive item for employers on that list is New York’s data center bill, because it does far more than the pause the governor already ordered.

NY New York A11560 / S10642: a data center moratorium with permanent mandates attached

What it does. The Responsible Data Center Development Act, carried by Assembly Member Didi Barrett, bars the Department of Environmental Conservation from issuing any permit to a “large data center,” defined as 20 megawatts or more of peak demand, for one year [2]. Projects already under construction and renewals of existing permits are exempt [2]. After the pause, a permit requires a public hearing in the host community at least three months before issuance [2]. Utilities must create a separate service class for large energy users, and the Public Service Commission may not approve rate changes without one [2]. Every data center of 5 megawatts or more must buy or generate renewable power for one-third of its load from 2030, two-thirds from 2035 and 90% from 2040, and construction of those sites carries prevailing wage requirements unless built under a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with the building trades [2].

Where it stands. Both houses passed it June 4 [2]. It is on City & State’s list of bills awaiting the governor [1]. In July, Hochul imposed her own pause by executive order on data centers of 50 megawatts or more, for up to a year while the Department of Public Service writes standards, and her policy team called the bill “complicated” [3].

Pratt’s read. The rate class is the defensible part: customers who cause grid costs should carry them, and it protects manufacturers and hospitals from someone else’s bill. The rest is a stack. The bill reaches sites less than half the size the executive order covers, and the renewable quotas and wage rules are permanent, not a pause [2, 3]. The sponsor memo cites the grid operator’s projection that demand could grow by another 1,600 megawatts, to nearly 4,000, by 2030, with grid costs “borne by all ratepayers” [2]. That is a fair worry, and the rate class answers it. The construction trades opposed the moratorium [1]. The memo lists the fiscal impact as “To be determined” [2].

NY New York S9269 / A10357: health data rules for businesses outside HIPAA

What it does. Sen. Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal’s Health Information Privacy Act bars any business from selling “regulated health information” and allows other processing only with a separately requested authorization or when “strictly necessary” for a listed purpose [4]. Marketing, advertising and research and development do not count as internal operations [4]. The definition covers data linkable to a person through “a cookie ID, an IP address, a device identifier,” including the “use or purchase of medication” and health status inferred from non-health data [4]. HIPAA-covered information and entities are exempt [4]. The attorney general enforces it, with civil penalties up to $15,000 per violation [4]. It takes effect six months after signing [4].

Where it stands. The Senate passed it June 3 and the Assembly June 4 [4]. Hochul vetoed a broader version last year as too broad, and tech and business groups oppose this one [1, 4].

Pratt’s read. Leaving enforcement to the attorney general rather than private suits is the right call. The reach is the problem. A grocer selling cold medicine, a retailer’s loyalty program or a fitness app can trip the inferred-data clause with no size threshold to sort them out [4]. The sponsors argue that most residents wrongly assume HIPAA covers their app data [4]. A narrower bill aimed at that gap would cost less.

IL Illinois HB 5513: the POWER Act comes back for the veto session

What it does. HB 5513, sponsored by Rep. Robyn Gabel, would require cumulative impact assessments and community benefits agreements for hyperscale data centers, ban nondisclosure agreements, fund two new accounts with annual fees based on peak demand, and require water impact permits renewed every five years [6]. It also requires annual energy and water reporting to the Illinois Commerce Commission and creates a self-direct renewable energy program for data centers [6].

Where it stands. It has sat in the House Rules Committee since March 27 [6]. On June 5, Gov. JB Pritzker directed the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to stop processing new data center incentive agreements from July 1 and asked lawmakers to pass reforms in the veto session [7]. The state granted more than $983 million in those incentives to 27 data centers from 2020 to 2024 [7]. Session days are November 17-19 and December 1-3 [5].

Pratt’s read. The incentive pause is the bigger signal: a statutory program halted by directive while Illinois competes for the same projects as its neighbors [7]. The bill itself turns every permit into a five-year renewal and every site into a negotiation [6]. The Data Center Coalition said it was “unfortunate” that stakeholder negotiations had not begun, while the Illinois Environmental Council expects something to pass this fall or in the January lame-duck session [8].

TX Texas SB 287: repealing solar tax preferences

What it does. SB 287, filed today by Sens. Perry and Campbell, repeals Tax Code Section 171.056, which exempts from the franchise tax a corporation engaged solely in manufacturing, selling or installing solar energy devices, and Section 171.107, which lets a business deduct 10% of the amortized cost of a solar device from its apportioned margin [9, 10, 11]. It also repeals Section 11.27(a-1), the property tax exemption for an on-site solar or wind device owned by someone other than the landowner [9, 12]. A business can still claim the exemption or deduction for any reporting period that begins in part before the effective date, January 1, 2028 [9].

Pratt’s read. Pratt prefers a broad base with fewer carve-outs, and the 1981 exemption for one industry is hard to defend on that principle [11]. But the deduction goes to any business that puts a solar device to its own use in Texas, and the property exemption to owners of on-site systems sitting on someone else’s land, not just to installers [11, 12]. The bill raises their taxes, and nothing in the record this release draws on puts a number on it.

TX Texas HB 252: the Agricultural Right to Repair Act

What it does. HB 252, by Rep. Money, requires manufacturers of electronics-enabled farm equipment to make parts, tools, software and documentation available to owners and independent repair shops on terms equal to the best they give authorized dealers, with documentation and software tools free [13, 14]. Trade secrets stay protected, and owners may not disable safety systems or emissions controls [13]. Violations are deceptive trade practices [13]. Existing contracts prevail where they conflict, and it takes effect September 1, 2027 [13].

Pratt’s read. A business-against-business bill, and agriculture wins it: a tractor down at harvest is a cost no dealer queue can price. The grandfather clause for existing contracts is fair to manufacturers [13]. The deceptive trade practice route is the costly part, since it invites litigation over what “fair and reasonable terms” means [13].

On the calendar

Illinois lawmakers return November 17 and again December 1 [5]. Hochul has the New York bills; City & State reports that bills she has not acted on are automatically vetoed at the end of January 2027 [1]. The Texas Legislature convenes at noon on January 12, 2027 [15], when SB 287 and HB 252 can be referred.