Nevada governor proposes to allow tech companies to create local governments

[Syt]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/537667-nevada-governor-touts-proposal-to-allow-tech-companies-to-create-local

Nevada governor touts proposal to allow tech companies to create local governments

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) touted a proposal that would allow tech companies to create local governments.

A draft proposal that has not been introduced in the Nevada state legislature would clear the way for "Innovation Zones," allowing tech companies to form separate governments in the state, according to a draft of the bill obtained the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Sisolak touted his plan on Twitter on Wednesday, saying he was glad it was getting national attention as a "Top Tech Agenda." He added that the plan would "help strengthen Nevada's infrastructure and economy and help generate new jobs in our state."

I am glad to see my #NVSOTS being highlighted in a national spotlight as carrying a 'Top Tech Agenda'. My pledge to creating new innovation zones & developing new technology industries will help strengthen Nevada's infrastructure & economy and help generate new jobs in our State. https://t.co/Uvq3iMhC66

— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) February 4, 2021

Sisolak first mentioned his plan during his State of the State address on Jan. 19. At the time, the governor said that companies "creating groundbreaking technologies can come to Nevada to develop their industries ... without tax abatements or public financing."

He also said that Blockchains LLC committed to building a "smart city" that ran on its technology following the bill's passage.

The Hill has reached out to Blockchains for comment.

According to the draft obtained by the Review-Journal, companies would be able to form governments that would have the same authority as a county, including imposing taxes, forming school districts and justice courts, and providing government services.

The Governor's Office of Economic Development would handle applications for the zones, which are limited to specific "innovative technology" such as blockchain, autonomous technology, robotics and renewable resource technology, the newspaper reported.

According to the newspaper, applicants for the zone must own 50,000 acres of undeveloped and uninhabited land within a county that's not a part of city or town. An applicant will need to have $250 million and a plan to invest an additional $1 billion in the zone over 10 years.

The zones would operate within their local counties to start but eventually would become independent governing bodies, according to the newspaper. The zones would also need a three-member board of supervisors that would have the same powers as a board of county commissioners.

The Hill has reached out to Sisolak's office for comment on the proposal.

So, Night City (from Cyberpunk 2077) will be located in Nevada, I guess?

[The Brain]

What's on the other side of the Earth from Nevada?

[Josquius]

Got to wonder.... Are tech companies really the ones to target here?
By nature they don't really need huge tracts of land.

[celedhring]

Got to wonder.... Are tech companies really the ones to target here?
By nature they don't really need huge tracts of land.

Maybe tech companies that built their headquarters on a swamp?

[Syt]

Got to wonder.... Are tech companies really the ones to target here?
By nature they don't really need huge tracts of land.

I suppose it would only be interesting for those with a sizable employee count that also want to create living space/infrastructure for their workers and their families. E.g. if Google were to relocate to a new central location.

[Admiral Yi]

Autonomous driving is a natural fit.

[Monoriu]

The experiment is worth trying. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Got to wonder.... Are tech companies really the ones to target here?
By nature they don't really need huge tracts of land.

Maybe tech companies that built their headquarters on a swamp?

Reptilians? 

[Habbaku]

Renraku is a trustworthy company.

[Legbiter]

Feudalism. 

*Edit* The experiment has already been done. Fordlandia.

The town had a strict set of rules imposed by the managers. Alcohol, women, tobacco and even football were forbidden within the town, including inside the workers' own homes. Inspectors would go from house to house to check how organised the houses were and to enforce these rules. The inhabitants circumvented these prohibitions by paddling out to merchant riverboats moored beyond the town jurisdiction,[5] often hiding contraband goods inside fruits like watermelons. A small settlement was established 8 kilometres (5 mi) upstream on the "Island of Innocence" with bars, nightclubs and brothels.

The land was hilly, rocky and infertile. None of Ford's managers had the requisite knowledge of tropical agriculture. In the wild, the rubber trees grow apart from each other as a protection mechanism against plagues and diseases, often growing close to bigger trees of other species for added support. In Fordlândia, however, the trees were planted close together in plantations, easy prey for tree blight, sauva ants, lace bugs, red spiders, and leaf caterpillars.[6]

The workers on the plantations were given unfamiliar food, such as hamburgers and canned food, and forced to live in American-style housing. Most disliked the way they were treated – being required to wear ID badges and work through the middle of the day under the tropical sun – and would often refuse to work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordl%C3%A2ndia

[Sheilbh]

Got to wonder.... Are tech companies really the ones to target here?
By nature they don't really need huge tracts of land.

I suppose it would only be interesting for those with a sizable employee count that also want to create living space/infrastructure for their workers and their families. E.g. if Google were to relocate to a new central location.

They've also been very interested in developing smart cities. In part because they don't need much land, but they do all use a lot of data about humans. The amount they could learn is why they're interested in smart cities but these tend to hit up against local politics and concerns around data - one way out of that is if the company is the local politics

[Oexmelin]

Feudalism. 

*Edit* The experiment has already been done. Fordlandia.

Greg Grandin's book is worth a read, if you are interested.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

sounds like a fantastic idea....


not!

smells too much like the 19th and early 20th century

[celedhring]

Reminds me of when Sheldon Adelson was looking to build a Vegas knockoff in Madrid and requested that the Spanish state granted him a "special zone" where Spanish laws regarding labor, smoking, gambling, taxation etc... didn't apply.

[Syt]

Reminds me of when Sheldon Adelson was looking to build a Vegas knockoff in Madrid and requested that the Spanish state granted him a "special zone" where Spanish laws regarding labor, smoking, gambling, taxation etc... didn't apply.

Isn't that what Gibraltar is there for?