Read a couple articles on data center & jobs - VA was the case study. Many may know all of this but just wanted to lay it all out.

The Legislation

Created in 2008 by Gov Kaine as economic stimulus measure - projected to cost $1.54M per year ($2.37M in today dollars).

The terms have been unchanged since 2008 and go through 2035; potential to extend to 2050. To qualify for a permanent sales & use tax exemption on all computer equipment: invest $150 million and create 50 jobs. No scaling with investment size. A company spending $10B gets the same exemption as one spending $150M.

By 2025 those exemptions were worth $1.9 billion to the data center industry, equal to 2% of Virginia’s entire state budget. increase of 118% in a single year. 

The jobs

In 2025 the industry added 1,610 direct jobs while reporting a tax benefit of $1.9 billion.

The break doesn’t buy jobs. It buys servers. The jobs are incidental.

If that $1.9B was invested in eduction =
~ 23,750 new teachers.

VA’s nonpartisan Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission concluded: the exemption “does not pay for itself.” 

Current status

Senate Democrats led by Pres Pro Tempor Lucas want to end the exemption early and redirect the revenue to social programs. She’s asking for $1.6 billion. But House Dems & the Governor are siding with the AI industry to keep the exemption intact.

TLDR: The most profitable companies in the world are getting automatic, permanent tax breaks that were implemented in 2008 and remain unchanged through 2035. Threshold to qualify for subsidies: invest $150M, create 50 jobs. In 2025, $1.9B in tax breaks, 1,610 direct jobs. State dem senators & house members in political fight ATM.