<\/p>\n
People gather on the South Steps of the Texas Capitol to protest data center expansion before a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller speaks at the Capitol to protest data center expansion before a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Maggie Hill, left, of Wimberley, and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller join people on the South Steps of the Texas Capitol to protest data center expansion before a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Clayton Tucker, Democratic candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, speaks at the Capitol to protest data center expansion before a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, asks questions at a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing on data center investment and state fiscal effects at the Capitol in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, listens during a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing on data center investment and state fiscal effects at the Capitol in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
The site of a future data center being built near Abernathy, Texas, Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Hale County, Texas.<\/p>\n
Justin Rex\/AP Photo\/Justin Rex<\/p>\n
Rita Beving, of Dallas, protests data center expansion at a rally at the Capitol before a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Sue Ellen Davis of Angleton protests data center expansion at a rally at the Capitol before a Texas Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Austin, Monday, July 27, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Democratic candidate for Texas agriculture commissioner Clayton Tucker speaks at a rally, Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas.<\/p>\n
Justin Rex\/AP Photo\/Justin Rex<\/p>\n
Calls are growing among data center opponents for Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session for lawmakers to rein in the projects that have roiled rural communities.<\/p>\n
On Monday morning, in advance of two interim hearings this week dealing with data centers<\/a>, grassroots organizers from across the state convened at the Capitol to voice their opposition to the massive computing centers that have proliferated rapidly over the last year.<\/p>\n The protest comes as data centers have emerged as an unexpected flashpoint ahead of November\u2019s midterms. Roughly 40 people held signs reading \u201cGovernor Abbott is all hat and no cattle\u201d and chanted \u201cspecial session now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n DATA CENTER TRACKER: See where data centers are planned or operating near you<\/a><\/p>\n Abbott, who as recently as November touted Texas as the \u201cepicenter of AI development,\u201d has sought to address the bubbling backlash among voters in deep-red rural Texas by directing state regulators to ensure data centers<\/a> do not pass on costs for new electrical infrastructure to ratepayers. He has urged lawmakers, who reconvene for the next Legislative session in January, to repeal the centers\u2019 lucrative sales tax exemptions and set up rules on where they can be built.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Troy Jones, a GOP precinct chair from Paris, said Abbott has not gone far enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo go far enough would be to have a special session to get the House and the Senate to get on board and to get something done,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt just keeps getting kicked down the road. Nobody really wants to do anything. Counties’ hands are tied. They can’t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Abbott is the only official with the power to bring lawmakers back for a special session.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Gina Hinojosa calls on Greg Abbott to halt data center construction<\/a><\/p>\n Sid Miller, the outgoing Republican Agricultural Commissioner whom Abbott campaigned against in the primary, pointed to the governor\u2019s office and urged the crowd to call on him to act.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe can hear everything we’re saying, and I invite him to come down here and join us today,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThe governor has authority to bring the legislature back tomorrow. He can have them in session tomorrow. So we’re calling on him to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesman for the governor did not comment on the special session requests, but said in a statement that Abbott \u201chas been clear that data centers cannot come before Texas families\u201d and pointed to the governor\u2019s directive from June. The governor\u2019s office last week touted an announcement from a data center developer that said it had<\/a> decided not to build a planned center in Henderson County, in part because of the governor\u2019s directive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThese steps protect Texans from higher costs and negative impacts on their communities,\u201d Andrew Mahaleris said. \u201cGovernor Abbott will continue to work with the Legislature to protect Texans and ensure their voices are heard.\u201d<\/p>\n Clayton Tucker, a Democrat running to replace Miller, also spoke. Tucker has built his campaign against data centers and is one of a growing number of Democrats calling for a moratorium as they try to capitalize on the growing rural resentment.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE: More Texas communities are taking a stand against data centers. Here\u2019s how lawmakers are responding.<\/a><\/p>\n The calls for a special session underscore how quickly the data center issue has evolved. For months, activists have called for a moratorium on construction until lawmakers can pass new rules next year. But now they are pushing for immediate legislative action.\u00a0<\/p>\n The protest kicked off a week of action organized by the nonprofit Alliance for a Clean Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Maggie Gannon, a volunteer with the Amanecer People\u2019s Project in El Paso, a grassroots group fighting a massive Meta data center outside the city, said she wants lawmakers to stop offering tax incentives to data center developers.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Monday, lawmakers began considering options to limit or repeal a decade-old sales tax exemption for data centers<\/a> that is costing the state more than $1 billion annually.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 2013 law, a sales tax exemption for qualifying data centers, means data center developers don\u2019t pay taxes on things like electricity, cooling systems and servers for up to two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we thought we were voting for back in 2013, it\u2019s a much different animal these days,\u201d said state Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who chairs the Senate finance committee. \u201cIt\u2019s time and it\u2019s appropriate and necessary for the Legislature to reexamine whether this exemption still delivers a return that justifies its rapidly mounting foregone tax revenue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n