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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 07/10/2026

States are handing data centers billions in tax breaks while promising jobs and growth. Weak transparency makes it hard to know what communities are getting in return. Join us to discuss how states can protect public budgets, jobs, and essential services. join.climate-xchange.org/a/state-poli...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 06/10/2026

Arizona's data center sales tax break cost residents $38.5 million in FY 25, up from $19.4 million the year before. That’s a 98% increase in one year. And that number could spike. 1/2 🧾: Tax Expenditure Reports

Arizona's data center sales tax break cost residents
$19.4 million in FY 2024.
A year later, it cost them $38.5 million - a 98% increase.

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 25/09/2026

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s new executive order adds accountability standards for data center development. But it leaves intact the industry’s biggest and costliest taxpayer benefit, which cost state and local governments > $1.9 billion in FY 2025. goodjobsfirst.org/virginia-dat...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 24/09/2026

NYC just announced its largest settlement to date: $131m from DoorDash for underpaying or failing to pay its drivers. State and local wage enforcement has now surpassed that of the federal WHD by more than ten-fold. States must continue to pick up the slack. goodjobsfirst.org/states-beat-...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 18/09/2026

Opportunity Zones, which gives federal tax breaks to wealthy investors and companies, became permanent under the Big Beautiful Bill. But states and localities can help offset the lost revenue, and proposed legislation prohibits data centers from participating. ⬇️ goodjobsfirst.org/new-opportun...

A scenic aerial shot of farmland in the Appalachian Mountains during summer. Source: Mark Stebnicki via Pexels

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 11/09/2026

Millions of people work, many full time and including at Walmart, yet still rely on assistance like food pantries because the company refuses to pay its workers living wages. goodjobsfirst.org/corporate-su...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 11/09/2026

Raise your hand if lately you've seen ads telling you how data centers make sure you can online bank, watch your movies, and scroll videos. But that's not why they're building. #AI

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 11/09/2026

I'd be mad if I helped pay to build a billionaire his stadium but then couldn't afford tickets. Actually, I'd just be mad if I had to help a billionaire pay for his stadium.

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 10/09/2026

Tax abatements can cost cities millions of dollars, but this form of spending rarely makes it into budget debates. Instead, it's disclosed *after* a fiscal year ends. It's time this spending got the same scrutiny as everything else. Our latest: goodjobsfirst.org/the-budget-s...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 02/09/2026

The EEOC is shrinking enforcement of racial and gender identity workplace discrimination cases. The disregard for these cases contrasts with how the agency has long operated to promote equal opportunity, risking the loss of the agency’s core mission. goodjobsfirst.org/the-eeoc-fol...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 02/09/2026

When Pennsylvania’s sales tax exemption took effect in 2022, an analysis projected it would cost $88.6 million in fiscal year 2026-27. The latest estimate for the same year is now $188.4 million – an increase of 113%. And it'll keep climbing. goodjobsfirst.org/pennsylvania...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 19/08/2026

This morning, Texas will hold a hearing on data centers, including taking a look at the "multiplier" effects, which, along with job creation, are low: capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 19/08/2026

Brad Reynolds, chief revenue estimator for the Texas Comptroller’s office, told state senators: “To be unable to justify employment of even 20 people on a permanent basis at one of these things tells you how little employment is really stemming from this.”

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 19/08/2026

In Texas, once a data center is approved, the state gives the company five years to get operational. That means taxpayers turning over billions of dollars don't learn for years that companies are failing to produce even 20-40 jobs, as recent audit showed. goodjobsfirst.org/texas-data-c...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 05/08/2026

"A 2024 state audit estimated Dominion may spend $16 billion to $18 billion by 2040 on transmission tied to data centers. Under the current setup, residential customers would cover 55% of that total, compared with 26% for data centers." www.thecooldown.com/green-busine...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 30/07/2026

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/t... NDAs in this $10B subsidy Meta extracted in Louisiana. "The secrecy was agreed to by nearly everyone involved, from utility executives to the governor’s office to a local elected official who knew about the talks with Meta and sold 300 acres of his own property..."

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 30/07/2026

A new GAO report confirms a defining feature of the low-wage economy: Millions of people work yet still rely on Medicaid and SNAP to get by. The companies include Amazon, Walmart, Dollar Tree and other Big Biz, which have received billions in public subsidies. goodjobsfirst.org/corporate-su...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 25/06/2026

The EEOC has historically enforced discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race and gender. But under the Trump Administration, it has shifted to a focus on enforcing anti-DEI practices and "anti-Christian bias." goodjobsfirst.org/a-new-era-at...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 12/06/2026

4 states now report losing $1 billion+ to data center tax breaks. Costs keep rising; 14 states still fail to disclose what these subsidies cost. Residents deserve to know what it's costing them to subsidize Big Tech *before* another deal is approved. ➡️ goodjobsfirst.org/even-cloudie...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 01/06/2026

At least for now, the owners of the Chicago Bears and other wealthy owners/developers have been blocked from getting the massive taxpayer subsidies they tried to score. chicago.suntimes.com/bears-stadiu...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 28/05/2026

Ohio is the newest member of the billion-dollar subsidy club, alongside Georgia, Texas, and Virginia. Shout-out to Signal Ohio for breaking the Ohio news, which led to the governor pausing *new* data center tax breaks. goodjobsfirst.org/ohio-data-ce...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 28/05/2026

“These numbers confirm that lawmakers were working with wildly inaccurate information,” said @policymattersohio.bsky.social. “Forecasts weren’t just off, they missed the mark by more than a billion dollars, undermining responsible policymaking and public trust.” goodjobsfirst.org/ohio-data-ce...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 26/05/2026

Also just added to Violation Tracker, our database chronicling corporate misconduct: 🔴Monsanto settled for $108m w/ Michigan AG for PCB violations, the 10th state to do so for a total of over $1.3b paid since '20. Explore Monsanto's troubled past: violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/summary?comp...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 26/05/2026

We just updated Violation Tracker. New entries include: 🔴The companies behind the 2024 M/V Dali collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge-Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd-ordered to pay $2.25b. Six workers lost their lives: violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/violation-tr...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 21/05/2026

Ohio residents lost out on $1.4 billion to data center tax breaks in 2025, @signalohio.bsky.social reports. signalohio.org/ohio-data-ce...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 21/05/2026

Just some of the billions of dollars Jeff has taken from the public. Explore more: goodjobsfirst.org/amazon-track... #Amazon #CorporateWelfare

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 21/05/2026

“It’s the biggest capital expenditure since the Manhattan Project, and it isn’t going to create 10s of thousands of jobs ... Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, Oracle, they’re shedding jobs in real time while spending billions on data centers so that other organizations can shed additional jobs through AI."

“It’s the biggest capital expenditure since the Manhattan Project, and it isn’t going to create tens of thousands of jobs in the long term,” Good Jobs First’s Anthony Elmo told The Verge. “It’s not some economic boom. Meta, Amazon,OpenAI, Oracle, they’re shedding jobs in real time while spending billionson data centers so that other organizations can shed additional jobs through AI. At some point, people need to ask more critical questions about this.”

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 21/05/2026

Explore our Violation Tracker for these and hundreds of thousands of other examples: violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 21/05/2026

Chicago Bears want a huge transfer of wealth from Illinois residents to their billionaire owners. That's bad enough. But almost every other big project would also get the same huge tax breaks, at a time residents are strapped. We break down Illinois' megadeal bill: goodjobsfirst.org/chicago-bear...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 21/05/2026

Musk, Jassy, Pichai, Zuckerberg, and Nadella lead companies that have racked up over $18,400,000,000 in fines for stealing worker wages, defrauding the government, environmental violations, etc etc. "AI safety" hardly seems to be their concern. goodjobsfirst.org/ai-data-cent...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 14/05/2026

Microsoft claims it wants to *add* to the tax base in communities where it seeks to puts data centers but then seeks massive tax breaks in communities where it seeks to puts data centers. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 14/05/2026

We've updated our staff listing. 👀 Please meet Allan Freyer, our new executive director. goodjobsfirst.org/dr-allan-fre...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 08/05/2026

Our Violation Tracker update is live 🚀 New cases include: 🟥Albertsons to pay >$700m for its alleged role in the opioid crisis 🟥Wells Fargo settled two class actions lawsuits for $117m for fraudulent marketing & failing to meet retirement obligations violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/pages/data-v...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 04/05/2026

In addition to rising energy costs, residents are also giving huge companies money via massive tax breaks. States should end, or at a minimum pause, data center tax break programs to understand the full impact to budgets, energy bills, and our health. goodjobsfirst.org/data-center-...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 27/04/2026

Companies get a lot of credit for building data centers, and all the "billions" they're investing. But who really benefits? @kasia-t.bsky.social debunks some common myths around the tall tales Big Tech tells, often in the pursuit of massive taxpayer subsidies. goodjobsfirst.org/the-myths-of...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 22/04/2026

In setting rules BEFORE allowing giant projects with unforeseen costs and potential harms, Maine takes a giant step forward in protecting its residents. #DataCenters goodjobsfirst.org/maine-morato...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 14/04/2026

In some states, that information may be somewhere; in others, they're just not releasing it publicly. North Carolina DOES release the costs of subsidies given to other industries/projects but does not disclose data center subsidies.

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 14/04/2026

Despite having good transparency on other economic development subsidy programs, North Carolina has closed the books on subsidies given to data centers. We call it out prominently in our latest report: goodjobsfirst.org/data-center-...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 14/04/2026

We recommend every state and locality disclose their data center tax abatement revenue losses. They should also back-report their losses since FY 2017. States should also annually report the local shares of revenue lost to any state-awarded tax abatements. goodjobsfirst.org/data-center-...

Report cover, Data Center Tax Abatements: Why States and Localities Must Disclose These Soaring Revenue Losses

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 14/04/2026

These transparency failures are costly and urgent, as known losses in states that do disclose soar to hundreds of millions of dollars, with three states, Georgia, Virginia, and Texas, already exceeding $1 billion per year; several states’ losses have spiked by over 1,000% in recent years.

Table 1: How States Do or Do Not Disclose Revenue Losses from Data Center Sales and Use Tax Abatement Programs

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 14/04/2026

🚨NEW ANALYSIS🚨 14 states and scores of localities fail to disclose how much revenue they lose to data center tax breaks. Yet such losses are known to be soaring in states that do disclose, with three states already losing $1 billion or more per year. 🧵 goodjobsfirst.org/data-center-...

I cannot think of an industry less in need of tax incentives. AI is so problematic for so many reasons. Why would we also allow it to defund our public schools, health care, and safety? - quote by Good Jobs First Executive Director Greg LeRoy

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 09/04/2026

🚨NEW🚨 Virginia’s sales and use tax breaks for data centers cost the Commonwealth over $1 billion in FY 2024, including an estimated $267 million that otherwise would have supported K–12 public schools, according to our new analysis: goodjobsfirst.org/the-hidden-c...

Image of a large data center in the foreground and many homes immediately behind it. This is in Loudoun County, Virginia.

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 07/04/2026

According to info from the Texas Senate, the cost of sales tax breaks given to data centers has exploded from an estimated $14.6 million for the 2014–15 biennium to a projected $3.3 billion for the 2028–29 biennium – an astounding 22,503% increase. goodjobsfirst.org/texass-data-...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 25/03/2026

🚨NEWS🚨 The board of directors of Good Jobs First announced that Dr. Allan Freyer has been hired as its new executive director. He will start on May 1, 2026. Freyer will take over for Greg LeRoy, who founded GJF in 1998 and has been its only executive director. goodjobsfirst.org/dr-allan-fre...

Announcement that Dr. Allan Freyer has been hired as Good Jobs First's new executive director. He succeeds Greg LeRoy, who founded GJF In 1998. Image of a white man smiling with glasses on. He has a beard and mustache and short dark brown hair. He is wearing a black jacket over a checkered shirt.

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 19/03/2026

We found this tax break costs communities hundreds of millions of dollars each year and primarily benefits some of the state’s worst repeat polluters. Not just ineffective, the exemption also worsens the toll of environmental racism. goodjobsfirst.org/outrage-on-t...

Outrage on the Rouge River: Big Polluters Defund Segregated, Low-Income Communities in Michigan

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 17/03/2026

Join us 3/18 at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, when we'll hear from city officials about how cities have increased engagement with communities around economic development incentives - and on a limited budget! Register here: bit.ly/modelwebinar

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 11/03/2026

A recent industry piece in @pilotonline.com argues Virginia must preserve its data center tax breaks to protect its “competitive edge.” But if lawmakers stop subsidizing some of the world’s richest companies, will data center companies really flee? The tl;dr: No. goodjobsfirst.org/virginias-da...

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 05/03/2026

🚨NEW ANALYSIS 🚨 Public money for immigration enforcement is flowing to a small number of corporations with long regulatory rap sheets. Read our new report about the $4 billion per year (and growing!) private ICE contractor business: goodjobsfirst.org/ice-contract...

Oversight on Thin ICE: Inside the Companies Enforcing Federal Immigration Policy. There is a collage showing immigration over the years and the Statue of Liberty

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 03/03/2026

🚨NEW ANALYSIS 🚨 Public money for immigration enforcement is flowing to a small number of corporations with long regulatory rap sheets. Read our new report about the $4 billion per year private ICE contractor business: goodjobsfirst.org/ice-contract...

Oversight on Thin ICE
Inside the Companies Enforcing Federal Immigration Policy

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Good Jobs First @goodjobsfirst.org · 16/12/2025

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has also seen a significant decrease in enforcement this year. OSHA’s imposed penalties dropped 47% from average penalties during similar periods each year since 2009.

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