Vos Warns Data Centers Issue Could Cost Republicans Votes
Chastises GOP-Led Senate on '80 percent issue,' dropping bill to regulate data centers.
From left, Speaker Pro Tem Kevin Petersen, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and Senate President Mary Felzkowski listen to Gov. Tony Evers as he delivers the State of the State on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos criticized his Senate GOP counterparts on Tuesday for letting a bill to regulate data centers die, calling the issue “bigger than most that I have seen in my 22 years.”
Vos made the remarks in a lunchtime event hosted by WisPolitics at the Madison Club, as the state Senate convened inside the Capitol building just up the street for what was expected to be their last day of session of the year.
A bill to regulate data centers that passed the Assembly in January did not make it on the Senate’s agenda. The proposal would have imposed certain data reporting and water recycling requirements on data centers, and made the centers — not consumers — pay for related improvements to the state power grid. It also would have required project owners to revert land back to its original purpose if a data center development plan is not completed.
“I think it is absolutely sad the state Senate is not voting on data center regulation,” Vos said Tuesday. “People are using what these data centers are providing.”
Vos cautioned that the issue could cost the state Senate some seats in November, at a time when they’ll be defending their majority from a Democratic effort to flip the chamber. He described some of the provisions of the bill as “80 percent issues” with the public, meaning they’re widely supported.
“The idea that … we’re going to not require data centers to pay their own way, that we’re not going to say that if they leave — which, they certainly could at some point, become obsolete — that they’re not going to become a brownfield,” he said. “The state Senate should vote on that bill, especially if they want to get back in the majority.”
Property tax, school funding negotiations continue
Vos said that Republicans and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers have continued to discuss a deal to reduce property taxes and increase education funding, including special education funding. Those negotiations have been going on for months, and Vos indicated that lawmakers would have to come back in special session to pass something later this year.
“If we do it, it’s not going to be this week,” he said.
Vos added that he wants the proposal to be narrow, rather than an effort to pack a bill with other provisions that didn’t pass in the last 15 months of legislative session.
Reflecting on two decades in the Legislature
Reflecting on his tenure in office, Vos — who announced last month he would not seek reelection — said he’d strongly considered not running again two years ago, after he narrowly survived a primary challenge that saw him at odds with President Donald Trump. But he said that efforts to recall him from office, which were backed by national figures like My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, made him want to leave on his own terms.
“The pillow guy and all the whack jobs couldn’t stop themselves, right?” he said. “So, screw them.”
Vos said that in more than two decades in office, he has evolved away from a pure ideologue to a pragmatist trying to win.
“If the 2005 freshman Robin met the 2026 speaker, he would be deeply disappointed … because when I ran for office, I was much more ideological,” he said. “I would be more interested in finding a compromise and winning and moving the ball down the field, as opposed to when I started, when I was probably more like a typical primary voter, which is, I want my person to always be fighting for what I believe in, even if it means losing.”
He said that, in Washington and in Madison alike, he’d rather watch the legislative process unfold slowly than let power accrue in the executive office
“That’s worse for society, because it reinforces (the idea that) one person gets their way. They don’t have to compromise,” he said. “How about reaching out and trying to find consensus? You don’t have to do it if you’re the single person making a decision.”
Vos warns Wisconsin Senate inaction on data centers could cost GOP votes was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
Vos talking about compromise and consensus? He must be off his rocker, he’s never stood for those things.
Sure. Now that the doorknob is about to hit him “where the sun don’t shine,” he talks big. Perhaps he can kiss and make up with Mr. Gableman and defraud the government (and the taxpayers) in some manner, shape or form