The Texas Blockchain Council, a trade advocacy group, has launched a campaign against the Senate Bill 1751, a bill which seeks to make various incentives available to Bitcoin miners in the state invalid. The said campaign is entitled ‘Don’t Mess With Texas Innovation’ and is aiming to gain support from the state’s residents to convince their state senators to vote against this bill.
The bill is set to be voted by the Senate soon and the Council is urging its state supporters and those from outside to email the Senate and oppose the bill as it has the potential to have an adverse impact on the cryptocurrency-related innovation in the state. According to the President of the Texas Blockchain Council, Lee Bratcher, the bill does not represent the ‘free-market principles that made Texas an economic powerhouse’.
The main points presented by the campaign include the potential increase in customers’ bills in the face of reduced competition of services, the contraction of crypto-related employment in the state which could either stagnate or cease in a worst-case scenario, the industry-inclusive limitation which is supposed to be against free-market principles, and the decrease in the state’s ability to cope up with crisis due to discouraged demand response participation from miners.
The bill is sponsored by Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst and is supposed to eliminate not only the tax incentives and subsidies meant to attract miners to the state but also their possibility to partake in Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ (ERCOT) demand response program which is meant to compensate businesses for adjusting their energy load during times of crisis. The Senator considers this incentives to be unnecessary as growth in the mining industry is likely regardless.
The aforementioned campaign is likely to face a public hearing which can potentially provide room to discuss arguments against and in favor of Senate Bill 1751. The Texas Blockchain Council President, Lee Bratcher, is anticipated to provide his input to the discussion and advocate the free-market principles in hope that the bill be voted down.
Ethan Garcia
- 2023-04-10
Opposing Texas Senate Bill 1751
The Texas Blockchain Council has launched a campaign against Senate Bill 1751, an attempt which could potentially have an adverse effect on the cryptocurrency-related innovation in the state. The Council is urging state and outside supporters to oppose this bill.
