Monthly Archives: February 2026

Those who have requested a Texas Attorney General opinion concerning data center development in Hood County, Texas include the Lt. Governor, a state representative, and now the Hood County Attorney. RQ-0633-KP

By changing state title laws to include manufactured homes in the definition of real property will unlock mortgage options for manufactured homes. This change would lead to cost savings for the owners of 27% to 65%. New Hampshire addressed this in 1983 by defining real property to include dwellings connected to utilities. Pew Charitable Trusts | States […]

2026 politics 101: Politicizing liquor licenses, and the renewal of licenses, as a way to control businesses that do something that state/local governments find displeasing.  Does this also sound like the plot of a dystopian film? Maybe, or maybe officials don’t like that hotels are housing ICE and that issue arises during a liquor permit […]

Legislators in Maine are considering a moratorium on data center development. LD 307 will establish a data center coordination council to provide input and evaluate policy options for data center development in the state. An amendment would add a moratorium for data centers with loads above 2oMW until July 1, 2028. Daily Yonder | As […]

Data center development bans are super popular right now. New York legislators say that they have filed the strongest moratorium on data center development in the country. S9144 Maine, above, might disagree. Thus far no statewide data center development bans have passed. Local bans have passed. New Orleans has passed a 1 year development moratorium. A similar […]

ABC News : “Uttech is facing what other residents in his town — and others around the country — are facing more and more: the risk of losing parts of his land to eminent domain, the government’s legal authority to seize private property for public use, in support of the growing expansion of AI data centers as […]

Texas Policy Research Lays out the various arguments supporting county authority to limit development. Rep. Slawson says that counties can protect water under Local Government Code Chapter 231, Subchapter K. Rep. Virdell argues for legislative action. Lt. Governor and Rep. Slawson have requested Attorney General Opinions.

Add Ohio to the states seeking to limit the number of residential properties that investor groups can own. Ohio has an interesting approach. Instead of placing hard limits on ownership numbers, Ohio State Senator Blessing proposes taxing LLCs that own more than 50 homes.  SB 28 Governing | “You can’t just hoard homes.”

The Illinois Rewilding Law allows the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to restore land to its natural state. Illinois is the first state to re-wild wetlands after changes to the federal Clean Water Act.  Governing | Illinois Becomes First State to Recognize ‘Rewilding’ Wetland Protection

Kansas’ Senate Bill 405 “ outlines eight items AI chatbots cannot do, including providing emotional support through open-ended conversations with a user; acting as a “sentient human” or mirroring humanlike interactions to make the user feel as if they developed a relationship with the chatbot; and encouraging an individual to isolate from their family, friends […]