Lawmakers unite on bill to ban NDAs for data centers

A push for more transparency around data center projects has brought together four Minnesota legislators from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Driving the news: The unlikely policymaking partners held a joint presser yesterday to try to shake loose legislation to prohibit local governmental officials from entering into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with private entities.

Zoom in: Backers of the bill say the growing use of NDAs and code names during talks with tech giants leaves residents in the dark about plans to bring the often controversial projects to their communities.

The other side: Critics, including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, argue that the bill's "blanket prohibition" on NDAs could "unintentionally undermine economic development negotiations between municipalities and businesses."

The intrigue: Co-authors Emma Greenman and Erin Maye Quade are two progressive Democrats, while Republicans Drew Roach and Steve Drazkowski are two of the Legislature's more conservative Republicans.

• They disagree on many topics — including whether to build more data centers at all.

But several of them represent communities already grappling with the issue, and the authors said they agree that transparency matters in both "blue" and "red" areas.

• "There really aren't that many, if any, Maye Quade-Drazkowski bills," Maye Quade quipped. "So drink it in."

Go deeper on the debate via the Star Tribune