Ohio is handing out billions of dollars to some of the richest companies in the world — and most residents had no idea until now.

A state sales tax exemption created in the early 2010s to attract technology companies has quietly exploded into one of the largest corporate subsidies Ohio has ever offered. In 2025 alone, the exemption cost Ohio $1.6 billion in lost revenue — eleven times the state's own estimate of $136 million. In 2024, it cost $555 million, four times what was forecast. Since 2017, data centers have collected an estimated $2.5 billion in public subsidies, including local property tax abatements, according to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

The companies pocketing these savings aren't struggling startups. They're Meta (Facebook), Alphabet (Google), and Amazon — three of the most profitable corporations on the planet. Under Ohio's current law, any data center facility costing $100 million or more to build can waive up to 100% of the state's 5.75% sales tax for up to 15 years. That's not an incentive. That's a blank check.

And what does Ohio get in return? Data centers are massive buildings filled with servers — they require enormous amounts of electricity and water to operate, but they create very few permanent jobs once construction ends. Worse, the surge in data center demand is straining Ohio's electric grid and driving up energy costs for families and small businesses across the state. Some developers are even building private natural gas power plants on-site to fuel their operations, adding to the environmental burden that local communities bear — without local communities having any say.

Senator Kent Smith put it plainly: "There's not a lot of things that take over $1 billion of our money, but holy crap the biggest tech companies in the world are one of them," he said, according to Signal Ohio/The Associated Press.

Ohio's state legislature already voted to end the data center tax break. Governor Mike DeWine vetoed it. We are calling on the Ohio General Assembly — including House Speaker Matt Huffman and every member of the Ohio House and Senate — to override that veto and stop approving new exemption contracts until the full costs and community impacts are transparent and accounted for.

Big Tech does not need Ohio's help. Ohio's families, schools, and communities do.

Sign this petition to tell Ohio lawmakers: end the blank check, override the veto, and put Ohio communities first.