2026 state legislative priorities

Each year, state legislatures take up issues relevant to public power and municipalities.

Below are some of the issues Heartland Energy will be watching in each state.

If your utility has additional legislative priorities, please let us know.

Data centers continue to be a hot topic in South Dakota and ten bills have been introduced so far, both in support of and against their development.

Each bill is different in scope. Some only pertain to hyperscale data centers while others would pertain to smaller facilities, including those mining cryptocurrency.

The bills range from exempting large data centers from sales tax to limiting nuisances to imposing a moratorium on construction of hyperscale centers.

Legislation affecting local government operations includes SB 46 and SB 47which pertain to agenda posting and executive session requirements. Both are intended to ensure transparency for public bodies and have passed through the Senate and been placed on consent in the House. 

HB 1030 pertains to elections, allowing municipalities to hold elections on even years only. HB 1095 standardizes and clarifies the process for submitting petitions specifically for schools and municipalities.

The 2026 Minnesota legislative session is scheduled to begin February 17. 

Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association has set a few priorities for this year’s session.

The association will continue to oppose efforts that would give third-parties that are not regulated utilities the authority to sell power to customers of a regulated utility. This would apply to an entity such as a solar developer selling power they generate directly to a customer.

Net-metering reform will also be a priority. MMUA hopes to build off a bill they supported in 2025. Current law unfairly shifts cost burdens by requiring utilities to overpay for excess energy produced.

They will also seek to repeal the nuclear moratorium and recognize bio-mass as a compliant source of fuel for the purpose of satisfying the carbon-free standard. 

A bonding bill, funding for replacing lead service lines, and increasing the threshold that triggers the need for using competitive bidding are additional issues the association will be working on.

The Iowa League of Cities has also set forth their priorities for the 2026 legislative session. 

They are seeking to modernize public notice requirements, hoping to authorize online postings of public notices by repealing the state requirement that noticed be published in a print newspaper.

Digitalization would maintain transparency while saving taxpayers millions statewide. 

They also hope to clarify liability for city officials, ensuring if they are acting within the scope of their official duties they are not subject to personal civil liability for good-faith building and code enforcement decisions. 

The league also supports a property tax framework that is stable, efficient and fiscally responsible, while ensuring cities can maintain the services and infrastructure that drive local and statewide economic growth.

For the 2026 legislative session, the League of Nebraska Municipalities continues to monitor legislation regarding municipal revenue and property tax limitations, a key focus for local government officials in previous sessions. 

Two bills have been introduced on the subject, both implementing a 2% revenue cap for local governments with certain exemptions, as well as provisions related to reducing local entities’ spending by finding efficiencies. 

The league is supportive of LB 1145, which would amend a section of the Open Meetings Act to require public bodies subject to the Act to provide “reasonable advance publicized notice of the time and place of each meeting by a method designated by each public body and recorded in its minutes.”

The bill also repeals provisions that are confusing and have proven to be problematic.

Follow your municipal league for updates

Each state’s municipal advocacy groups do an excellent job of monitoring issues and advocating for their members. They also provide legislative updates to keep you informed.

If you do not receive these updates, please contact your statewide association.