Missourians will have the opportunity in September to speak to state lawmakers about their opinions on data centers at a public hearing in Jefferson City.
State Rep. Tricia Byrnes announced the hearing on Tuesday during a press conference in Wentzville. It will take place on Sept. 16, the same day as the annual veto session.
Byrnes, R-Wentzville, said House Speaker Jon Patterson granted her request for a public hearing. The House Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs, which Byrnes chairs, will conduct it.
Byrnes said she realized the need for a hearing before next year's session to gather information in order to prepare legislation.
"As I looked through this, I realized that this is much bigger than a representative just presenting legislation. This impacts our entire state and potentially has national impact too," Byrnes said.
In addition to the upcoming hearing, Byrnes said she has been working on an outline for legislation that she wants to introduce on data centers. That legislation would include a list of requirements related to transparency.
"I want all of the agreements to be disclosed. I want there to be public (comment) periods. There also needs to be noise operational standards, notifications, water permit requirements, and overall oversight and compliance," Byrnes said.
Byrnes is running to be the state senator for District 10, which includes a part of St. Charles County, as well as Pike, Lincoln, Montgomery and Callaway counties.
While Byrnes said this would be a priority for her if she wins her Senate race, she was adamant on Tuesday that this was not a campaign event.
Byrnes stopped short of calling for a statewide moratorium on data centers, saying that communities should be able to decide for themselves.
However, she also said that if the state doesn't tackle legislation on the issue, then communities should consider a pause on data center development until they get more information.
"If we're going to completely just run roughshod on all these counties that don't have planning and zoning, that is not right, and they should be able to say, 'I'm going to hold the brakes on this,'" Byrnes said.
Byrnes' hearing announcement came the same day that Rep. Don Mayhew, R-Crocker, said he was heading an effort to urge Gov. Mike Kehoe to call for a special session on data centers.
Asked about the possibility of a special session, Byrnes said she was told there would not be one.
Despite a lack of a special session, Byrnes said she believes the hearing in September could make a difference.
"If we have that hearing and we start to talk about some of these concerns, I guarantee you there will be cities and counties that won't wait for the state to act, and I welcome that," Byrnes said.
Data center survey in Montgomery County
Hours later, a group gathered at Montgomery County Middle School to discuss the results of a countywide survey about data center development.
In May, the Missouri Rural Crisis Center mailed a survey to every active registered voter in Montgomery County. According to the center, that was 5,000 to 6,000 surveys.
By June 22, 1,461 surveys were returned, a roughly 27% response rate.
According to the Crisis Center, 1,239 of the returned surveys expressed opposition to data centers. That is around 85% of the recorded responses.
Meanwhile, 154 surveys expressed support, and 68 survey respondents were undecided.
The survey results come after the announcement earlier this month that Amazon is building a multibillion-dollar data center in Montgomery County.
"It's our recommendation that the elected officials of Montgomery County reconsider their support of the data centers, and at the very least take the matter to a vote of the people," Olivia Stockman, with the Crisis Center, said.
Both events on Tuesday come less than a week after several summits on AI data centers took place in Missouri. That included one in Rolla in which Kehoe expressed his continued support of the centers.
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