Data centers are the 21st century version of the power plant or water tower—essential infrastructure that enables the economy to run. Now, with its new Free-Market Guide to Data Center Infrastructure, the Goldwater Institute is correcting misinformation being spread by opponents of modernity who are actively working to slow or halt data center development around the country.
Goldwater’s guide dispels several myths and misconceptions about data centers: No, data centers aren’t just for “Big Tech”—hospitals, banks, and average Americans rely on them every day. Data centers aren’t resource hogs—they’re some of the most water-efficient industrial facilities ever built. Data centers also aren’t driving up electricity prices. Rather, they strengthen grid economics by providing steady, predictable baseload demand. They also create jobs—the average data center salary is roughly $160,000.
The truth is, demand for digital services is skyrocketing and data centers are critical for the modern world to function. That’s why the Goldwater Institute is encouraging the nation’s leaders to resist the growing fear-based backlash to data centers and to meet the future with freedom, not government restrictions.
Read more here.
It’s time to hold “local governments’ feet to the fire” over growing homeless encampments and panhandling in some of Georgia’s biggest cities. That was state Rep. Houston Gaines’ message in a recent Fox News interview where he advocated for a Goldwater Institute-backed bill that will allow Georgians to hold local governments accountable when they repeatedly fail to enforce laws governing public spaces.
House Bill 295, which was passed by the legislature and awaits Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature, will allow property owners to seek compensation if their property values decrease due to the local government not enforcing bans on illegal camping, restrictions on loitering, and rules intended to keep sidewalks functional. Gaines told Fox that one of his constituents came back from vacation to find “a homeless person had been in her pool for the last week,” while business owners tell him they are tired of showing up to work only to find people sleeping out front. The way to incentivize local governments to enforce the laws and really help the homeless is to hit them “in their pocketbook,” he said.
The Goldwater Institute knows this approach works because it’s been tried elsewhere—in Arizona, where Goldwater championed and voters approved Proposition 312 in 2024, forcing local governments to treat existing laws as obligations, not just suggestions.
Read more here.
College students shouldn’t be forced to endure radical “diversity, equity, and inclusion” indoctrination just to earn a degree, but sadly many American universities still require students to take DEI courses to graduate. Thankfully, that will no longer be the case in Kansas, which struck a blow against discriminatory DEI by enacting legislation modeled after the Goldwater Institute’s Freedom from Indoctrination Act.
University DEI requirements force students into courses of dubious academic and professional value, corrupt standards, and politicize programs that are supposed to prepare students to succeed in their careers and in life. They are also an enormous waste of student and taxpayer money. The Freedom from Indoctrination Act prohibits schools from requiring courses rooted in DEI as a condition of graduation.
Kansas is the second state to enact legislation modeled after the Freedom from Indoctrination Act, following Idaho which adopted the reform last year. The Goldwater Institute will continue working to ensure that universities across the country return to their core mission of educating—not indoctrinating—students.
Read more here.
