Gov. DeWine directs the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to pause new data center sales-tax exemption requests (May 27, 2026)

On May 27, 2026 Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine directed the chair of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to pause consideration of any new data center sales and use tax exemption requests while the General Assembly's Joint Data Center Committee studies data center growth in Ohio. Per the release, the Authority would stop accepting new data center exemption proposals after its June 1, 2026 meeting, at which it approved one pending request, a 50 percent, 10-year exemption for Cologix's Delaware and Licking County projects. The governor said data centers previously granted the exemption reported $27.2 billion of capital investment in 2025 and that the pause "is not a data center ban". The directive was announced by news release; it is not an executive order and does not repeal the exemption in ORC 122.175, which DeWine had preserved by line-item veto in 2025.