Sep. 16, 2026
Prop. 45 will speed data center construction
Proposition 45's plain language, and millions of dollars in donations from data center developers, show that the measure will cover data centers and weaken public health protections for surrounding communities.
Richard M. Frank
Professor of Environmental Practice (Ret.)
UC Davis School of Law
Senior Fellow, California Environmental Law & Policy Center
Richard is director of the California Environmental Law & Policy Center at the UC Davis School of Law.
Proposition 45's proponents have spent the summer trying to reassure Californians that the measure has nothing to do with data centers. But voters are not being asked to approve proponents' statements to the press. They are being asked to enact 41 pages of statutory text.
Buried in that text is language that covers data centers. Prop. 45 covers so-called "broadband Internet access projects," which it defines as "mass-market retail service . . . that prov...
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