At this point in time I am woefully unprepared to comment thoughtfully. After due consideration I will be back. Until then I will ask for useful working solutions with definite dates and ideas to revisit the thornier issues.
Looks like legislators have the opportunity to enhance the state coffers by having data centers pay (at least) more of their fair share of taxes and by so doing have more funds available for schools, especially those in the most underserved areas. Schooling, after all, should be equally funded regardless of financial or population size. Localities should not be penalized for having a smaller population or lesser financial means when it comes to k-12 education. Data centers, which require huge resources to operate, should pay a greater dollar value for the greater resource use.
The author's suggestion, "A shutdown—however partial—would land hardest on the families and small businesses that see state government not as an abstraction, but as the source of paychecks, contracts, and classrooms," merits scrutiny. One might inquire whether this near-definition of state government truly captures a complete picture. For example, might not one purpose of state government be to mediate, even moderate between the desire, needs, and preferences of we the people versus those entities that profit by denying such desires, needs, and preferences?
At this point in time I am woefully unprepared to comment thoughtfully. After due consideration I will be back. Until then I will ask for useful working solutions with definite dates and ideas to revisit the thornier issues.
Looks like legislators have the opportunity to enhance the state coffers by having data centers pay (at least) more of their fair share of taxes and by so doing have more funds available for schools, especially those in the most underserved areas. Schooling, after all, should be equally funded regardless of financial or population size. Localities should not be penalized for having a smaller population or lesser financial means when it comes to k-12 education. Data centers, which require huge resources to operate, should pay a greater dollar value for the greater resource use.
The author's suggestion, "A shutdown—however partial—would land hardest on the families and small businesses that see state government not as an abstraction, but as the source of paychecks, contracts, and classrooms," merits scrutiny. One might inquire whether this near-definition of state government truly captures a complete picture. For example, might not one purpose of state government be to mediate, even moderate between the desire, needs, and preferences of we the people versus those entities that profit by denying such desires, needs, and preferences?