Montana’s House of Representatives has approved a bill that aims to establish the rights of crypto miners in the state. The bill has now passed the third reading and is awaiting the governor’s signature to become law. With 64 votes in favour and 35 against, the bill aims to prevent local authorities from obstructing crypto-mining operations. In February, the Senate voted in favour of the bill, with 37 in support and 13 against.
The governor, Greg Gianforte, has the power to veto the bill, but it is worth noting that he and the bill’s sponsor, Senator Daniel Zolnikov, both belong to the Republican party.
The proposed bill seeks to achieve several objectives, such as instituting a digital asset mining entitlement, preventing discriminatory electricity rates for crypto miners, safeguarding domestic mining operations, and abolishing the authority of local governments to impede crypto-mining activities using zoning laws.
Furthermore, the bill intends to prohibit the imposition of further taxes on the utilization of cryptocurrencies for payment purposes and designate digital assets, including cryptocurrencies inclusive of stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as personal property.
The revised bill has made significant changes by shortening Section 3, which previously contained unrelated articles and was almost three pages long. The new Section 3 now focuses on limiting the authority of local governments to regulate crypto mining.
It specifies three areas, including preventing local authorities from imposing requirements that differ from data centres and prohibiting them from preventing mining in industrial areas and private homes.
If signed into law, the bill could affect a law implemented by Missoula County, Montana, in April 2019, which restricts miners to operating solely in light and heavy industrial districts and mandates the usage of renewable energy sources.
If you want to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
