Legislative Committee: Data Center Fight Dominates Springfield Outlook, County Lobbyists Say

Will County Legislative Committee | October 6, 2026

Article Summary: State lobbyists from Mac Strategies told the Will County Board’s Legislative Committee on Oct. 6, 2026, that data center regulation is the dominant unresolved issue heading into Illinois’ fall veto session, with a governor-imposed pause on state permit processing already functioning as a de facto moratorium.

State Legislative Update Key Points:

Veto session is set for Nov. 17-19 and Dec. 1-3, with a lame-duck session expected in early January before new lawmakers are inaugurated Jan. 13.

Matt Murphy said the governor directed the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to stop processing data center permit applications effective July 1, and can keep that in place as long as he chooses.

Also pending: Chicago Bears stadium legislation, a supplemental budget to correct errors in the spring budget, and housing affordability legislation opposed by counties and municipalities over local control.

The committee took no action on any of it; the report was received under agenda item 26-5593.

WILL COUNTY — Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield in November facing an unresolved fight over how to regulate data centers, with environmental groups, organized labor and trial lawyers all pulling in different directions, the Will County Board’s Legislative Committee was told on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026.

Ann Schaefer of Mac Strategies opened the state report by laying out the calendar. The General Assembly adjourned at the end of May — “actually, the morning of June,” she said — and is not due back until veto session, the week before and the week after Thanksgiving: Nov. 17 through 19 and Dec. 1 through 3. The state constitution sets Jan. 13 for the inauguration of the new class of lawmakers, and Schaefer said members are expected to return somewhat earlier for a lame-duck session, possibly Jan. 4 through 12, when they can pass measures at a lower vote threshold than veto session allows.

Matt Murphy, joining by phone from a meeting in Bloomington, said no action on actual vetoes is anticipated during the two-week veto session, but that the legislature typically legislates on other matters during it.

The Data Center Standoff

Murphy said the governor paused processing of data center permits through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity effective July 1, in order to buy time to negotiate a regulatory package.

Board member Herbert Brooks Jr. asked whether such a pause expires. “He can keep that on as long as he wants, because what he really did is just direct his Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to stop discussions and negotiations and approvals of data center permit applications,” Murphy said. He said the governor could not get the legislature to put a moratorium on the relevant tax credit into statute, so he acted unilaterally on approvals instead — a step that could only be undone if a court ordered the state to process permits in good faith.

“We kind of already have a de facto moratorium,” Murphy said. “That doesn’t mean that data center projects can’t move, but they’re going to be slowed down substantially, and frankly a lot of data center developers may be holding off until they see how this is going to get worked out.”

He described the competing interests: labor wants the development because its members build the facilities; environmental groups are focused on the environmental impact and on the increased cost to ordinary ratepayers from grid pressure; and Illinois trial lawyers oppose the limits to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act that data center developers and hyperscalers want. Murphy said negotiators were due to meet that Friday but appeared “somewhat far from having finality.”

Asked by a member why data centers cluster near population centers rather than in the county’s open industrial and agricultural areas, Murphy said proximity to the users and creators of data appears to be an important component, while acknowledging that developers are pursuing sites in Indiana and Wisconsin. He identified the deepest split as the fight between environmental groups and labor over whether natural gas may be used as a power source.

“Labor is saying you’ve got to give them the option of natural gas, at least for the time being,” Murphy said. “Otherwise they just can’t generate enough power to do what you’re asking them to do by bringing their own power.” He said some negotiators are exploring a middle ground pairing natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration.

Murphy also flagged legislation on a Chicago Bears stadium, which he said has drawn considerably more conversation of late; a supplemental budget to clean up errors made in the rush at the end of the spring session, with no clarity yet on whether that happens in veto session, lame duck or early next year; and housing affordability, including the governor’s Build Illinois plan, which Murphy said was “opposed pretty aggressively” by municipalities and counties because it took away local control for zoning and permitting for housing.

The committee asked questions but took no action on the report.