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We all could use a do-over button from time to time. That may be the case with Act 851 of 2023, which gave special protections to crypto mining operations in Arkansas and, in the process, has almost run some people out of their homes.
Crypto mining is a process where independent operators verify digital transactions paid for through cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
Act 851, passed by state legislators last year, allows these companies to operate in Arkansas. It also forbids local governments from adopting ordinances or policies that limit the noise they produce or impose different requirements than would apply to other data centers.
The bill was filed late in the legislative session on March 30 and had passed both houses by April 7. At the time, lawmakers were racing through bills before it was time to go home. It passed a House committee and then the full House, 88-2, with nine not voting and one voting present. Then it passed the Senate, 33-0, with two excused absences. Because of a Senate amendment, it returned to the House, where it passed even more easily by a vote of 93-1 with six not voting. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders then signed it into law.
It’s not hard to guess why the bill sailed through. It looks like pro-economic development, pro-technology legislation.
The problem is that these crypto mining facilities are extremely loud. The many computers housed in the facilities require lots of electricity and produce lots of heat. Their fans emit a high-pitched noise that is making some of the nearby rural homes almost unlivable.
In response, 23 Faulkner County residents are suing NewRays One, saying its mine is affecting their health and quality of life, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The judge declined to dismiss the case.
Meanwhile, the mines don’t really create many local jobs once they are built and in operation. They’re virtually unmanned beyond someone guarding the computers.
Some city and county governments recognized the threat and raced to enact ordinances to keep the crypto mines out before Act 851 went into effect last year. Some of those that didn’t may wish they had.
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, an original yes vote, has been trying to move the Legislature toward repealing the law. So far it’s not happening, but at least it’s being talked about.
Even if some kind of ban occurred, what would happen with the operations already in place? Could Arkansas be in a similar position as it was a few years ago when that big hog farm on the Buffalo River generated so much controversy that finally Gov. Asa Hutchinson settled with the owners to close it?
The episode points to a major problem with the legislative process: Legislators are not spending enough time reading and thoughtfully considering some of these bills, partly because they file so many of them.
Lawmakers often file roughly 2,000 bills in a three-month period and pass more than half. The 2023 session was a “slow” one, historically speaking, with 1,439 bills filed and 889 passed into law. That was the smallest number of bills considered since 1971, according to the Arkansas Senate’s website. But that’s still a lot to consider in 89 days.
Many of these bills are relatively inconsequential, but some are not. A bill like Act 851 that would have such a huge effect on existing homeowners’ quality of life should have been carefully considered. That clearly wasn’t done.
Legislators vote on too many bills in too short a time period. More time should be required between the day a bill is filed and the day it’s first heard in committee. Days should be added between the time a bill passes either the House or Senate and when it’s first heard on the other side. Perhaps no lawmaker should be allowed to be the primary sponsor of more than a set number of bills. If it were five, lawmakers in a three-month session would only consider 675. That would give them more time and might force them to prioritize.
If any of those changes were in effect, we may or may not have crypto mining operations in Arkansas. Maybe legislators would do it again rather than push the do-over button.
But maybe not. They might have voted differently had they known what crypto mining facilities do, how few jobs they actually create, and how their noise affects the neighbors who are already there.
Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 15 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevebrawner.
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