103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB1239

 

Introduced 2/2/2023, by Sen. Sue Rezin

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 605/605-1025

    Amends the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Defines "cryptocurrency" and "cryptocurrency mining". Changes the definition of "qualifying Illinois data center" to include data centers engaged in cryptocurrency mining that made or committed to make a capital investment of at least $250,000,000 over a 60-month period prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB1239LRB103 28066 HLH 54445 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Economic
5Opportunity Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois
6is amended by changing Section 605-1025 as follows:
 
7    (20 ILCS 605/605-1025)
8    Sec. 605-1025. Data center investment.
9    (a) The Department shall issue certificates of exemption
10from the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, the Use Tax Act, the
11Service Use Tax Act, and the Service Occupation Tax Act, all
12locally-imposed retailers' occupation taxes administered and
13collected by the Department, the Chicago non-titled Use Tax,
14and a credit certification against the taxes imposed under
15subsections (a) and (b) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income
16Tax Act to qualifying Illinois data centers.
17    (b) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1,
182019, the Department shall award credits against the taxes
19imposed under subsections (a) and (b) of Section 201 of the
20Illinois Income Tax Act as provided in Section 229 of the
21Illinois Income Tax Act.
22    (c) For purposes of this Section:
23    "Cryptocurrency" means a type of virtual currency that

 

 

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1utilizes cryptography to secure transactions that are
2digitally recorded on a distributed ledger, such as a
3blockchain.
4    "Cryptocurrency mining" means the process whereby
5computers, also known as nodes or mining rigs, validate
6blockchain transactions for a specific cryptocurrency and, in
7turn, receive a mining reward for their computational efforts.
8        "Data center" means a facility: (1) whose primary
9    services are the storage, management, and processing of
10    digital data, or cryptocurrency mining; and (2) that is
11    used to house (i) computer and network systems, including
12    associated components such as servers, network equipment
13    and appliances, telecommunications, and data storage
14    systems, (ii) systems for monitoring and managing
15    infrastructure performance, (iii) Internet-related
16    equipment and services, (iv) data communications
17    connections, (v) environmental controls, (vi) fire
18    protection systems, and (vii) security systems and
19    services.
20        "Qualifying Illinois data center" means a new or
21    existing data center that:
22            (1) is located in the State of Illinois;
23            (2) in the case of an existing data center, made a
24        capital investment of at least $250,000,000
25        collectively by the data center operator and the
26        tenants of the data center over the 60-month period

 

 

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1        immediately prior to January 1, 2020, or in the case of
2        a data center engaged in cryptocurrency mining, made a
3        capital investment of at least $250,000,000 over the
4        60-month period immediately prior to the effective
5        date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General
6        Assembly, or committed to make a capital investment of
7        at least $250,000,000 over a 60-month period
8        commencing before January 1, 2020 and ending after
9        January 1, 2020, or in the case of a data center
10        engaged in cryptocurrency mining, committed to make a
11        capital investment of at least $250,000,000 over a
12        60-month period commencing before the effective date
13        of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly
14        and ending after the effective date of this amendatory
15        Act of the 103rd General Assembly; or
16            (3) in the case of a new data center, or an
17        existing data center making an upgrade, makes a
18        capital investment of at least $250,000,000 over a
19        60-month period beginning on or after January 1, 2020;
20        and
21            (4) in the case of both existing and new data
22        centers, results in the creation of at least 20
23        full-time or full-time equivalent new jobs over a
24        period of 60 months by the data center operator and the
25        tenants of the data center, collectively, associated
26        with the operation or maintenance of the data center;

 

 

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1        those jobs must have a total compensation equal to or
2        greater than 120% of the average wage paid to
3        full-time employees in the county where the data
4        center is located, as determined by the U.S. Bureau of
5        Labor Statistics; and
6            (5) within 2 years after being placed in service,
7        certifies to the Department that it is carbon neutral
8        or has attained certification under one or more of the
9        following green building standards:
10                (A) BREEAM for New Construction or BREEAM
11            In-Use;
12                (B) ENERGY STAR;
13                (C) Envision;
14                (D) ISO 50001-energy management;
15                (E) LEED for Building Design and Construction
16            or LEED for Operations and Maintenance;
17                (F) Green Globes for New Construction or Green
18            Globes for Existing Buildings;
19                (G) UL 3223; or
20                (H) an equivalent program approved by the
21            Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
22        "Full-time equivalent job" means a job in which the
23    new employee works for the owner, operator, contractor, or
24    tenant of a data center or for a corporation under
25    contract with the owner, operator or tenant of a data
26    center at a rate of at least 35 hours per week. An owner,

 

 

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1    operator or tenant who employs labor or services at a
2    specific site or facility under contract with another may
3    declare one full-time, permanent job for every 1,820 man
4    hours worked per year under that contract. Vacations, paid
5    holidays, and sick time are included in this computation.
6    Overtime is not considered a part of regular hours.
7        "Qualified tangible personal property" means:
8    electrical systems and equipment; climate control and
9    chilling equipment and systems; mechanical systems and
10    equipment; monitoring and secure systems; emergency
11    generators; hardware; computers; servers; data storage
12    devices; network connectivity equipment; racks; cabinets;
13    telecommunications cabling infrastructure; raised floor
14    systems; peripheral components or systems; software;
15    mechanical, electrical, or plumbing systems; battery
16    systems; cooling systems and towers; temperature control
17    systems; other cabling; and other data center
18    infrastructure equipment and systems necessary to operate
19    qualified tangible personal property, including fixtures;
20    and component parts of any of the foregoing, including
21    installation, maintenance, repair, refurbishment, and
22    replacement of qualified tangible personal property to
23    generate, transform, transmit, distribute, or manage
24    electricity necessary to operate qualified tangible
25    personal property; and all other tangible personal
26    property that is essential to the operations of a computer

 

 

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1    data center. "Qualified tangible personal property" also
2    includes building materials physically incorporated in to
3    the qualifying data center.
4    To document the exemption allowed under this Section, the
5retailer must obtain from the purchaser a copy of the
6certificate of eligibility issued by the Department.
7    (d) New and existing data centers seeking a certificate of
8exemption for new or existing facilities shall apply to the
9Department in the manner specified by the Department. The
10Department shall determine the duration of the certificate of
11exemption awarded under this Act. The duration of the
12certificate of exemption may not exceed 20 calendar years. The
13Department and any data center seeking the exemption,
14including a data center operator on behalf of itself and its
15tenants, must enter into a memorandum of understanding that at
16a minimum provides:
17        (1) the details for determining the amount of capital
18    investment to be made;
19        (2) the number of new jobs created;
20        (3) the timeline for achieving the capital investment
21    and new job goals;
22        (4) the repayment obligation should those goals not be
23    achieved and any conditions under which repayment by the
24    qualifying data center or data center tenant claiming the
25    exemption will be required;
26        (5) the duration of the exemption; and

 

 

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1        (6) other provisions as deemed necessary by the
2    Department.
3    (e) Beginning July 1, 2021, and each year thereafter, the
4Department shall annually report to the Governor and the
5General Assembly on the outcomes and effectiveness of Public
6Act 101-31 that shall include the following:
7        (1) the name of each recipient business;
8        (2) the location of the project;
9        (3) the estimated value of the credit;
10        (4) the number of new jobs and, if applicable,
11    retained jobs pledged as a result of the project; and
12        (5) whether or not the project is located in an
13    underserved area.
14    (f) New and existing data centers seeking a certificate of
15exemption related to the rehabilitation or construction of
16data centers in the State shall require the contractor and all
17subcontractors to comply with the requirements of Section
1830-22 of the Illinois Procurement Code as they apply to
19responsible bidders and to present satisfactory evidence of
20that compliance to the Department.
21    (g) New and existing data centers seeking a certificate of
22exemption for the rehabilitation or construction of data
23centers in the State shall require the contractor to enter
24into a project labor agreement approved by the Department.
25    (h) Any qualifying data center issued a certificate of
26exemption under this Section must annually report to the

 

 

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1Department the total data center tax benefits that are
2received by the business. Reports are due no later than May 31
3of each year and shall cover the previous calendar year. The
4first report is for the 2019 calendar year and is due no later
5than May 31, 2020.
6    To the extent that a business issued a certificate of
7exemption under this Section has obtained an Enterprise Zone
8Building Materials Exemption Certificate or a High Impact
9Business Building Materials Exemption Certificate, no
10additional reporting for those building materials exemption
11benefits is required under this Section.
12    Failure to file a report under this subsection (h) may
13result in suspension or revocation of the certificate of
14exemption. Factors to be considered in determining whether a
15data center certificate of exemption shall be suspended or
16revoked include, but are not limited to, prior compliance with
17the reporting requirements, cooperation in discontinuing and
18correcting violations, the extent of the violation, and
19whether the violation was willful or inadvertent.
20    (i) The Department shall not issue any new certificates of
21exemption under the provisions of this Section after July 1,
222029. This sunset shall not affect any existing certificates
23of exemption in effect on July 1, 2029.
24    (j) The Department shall adopt rules to implement and
25administer this Section.
26(Source: P.A. 101-31, eff. 6-28-19; 101-604, eff. 12-13-19;

 

 

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1102-427, eff. 8-20-21; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21.)
 
2    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3becoming law.