Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak announced plans to create so-called innovation districts in Nevada to attract technology companies and jump-start Nevada’s economy, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday. The zones would allow companies that own large tracts of land to form governments that would exercise the same powers as county governments, including the ability to collect taxes.
Sisolak said Blockchains, LLC will develop “smart cities” in the area east of Reno after the legislation is passed. Blockchains, a technology company owned by cryptocurrency millionaire Jeffrey Berns, purchased approximately 67,000 acres of undeveloped and uninhabited land in Storey County for $170 million in 2018. The District is expected to break ground on the Nevada project in 2022, according to an update on the company’s website.
Since 2018, The District and Burns himself have donated heavily to political candidates, with Burns contributing $50,000 to the state Democratic Party in 2019.
In these innovation districts, the state allows tech giants with large tracts of land to form governments and exercise the same powers as counties, including the ability to collect taxes, form school districts and courts and provide government services. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development will oversee applications for these zones, which will be limited to companies engaged in specific areas of business, including blockchain, automated technology, the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, wireless, biometrics and renewable energy technologies.
Planning requirements will include that the applicant own at least 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) of undeveloped, uninhabited land within a county that is separate from any city, town or taxing district. The applicant company will have at least $250 million and plans to invest an additional $1 billion in its area over a 10-year period. The districts will initially operate under the supervision of the counties in which they are located, but will eventually take over county responsibilities and become independent county governments. Sisolak introduced the concept during his State of the State address on Jan. 19.
Chinese American scholar He Qinglian commented, “This is a relatively low threshold for forming a government. According to Forbes magazine on Jan. 15, Bill Gates has been quietly buying farmland across the U.S. after retiring from the tech world, and now owns 268,984 acres (about 1,089 square kilometers) of farmland, making him the No. 1 private farmland owner in the United States. Once this example is opened, by this standard, he can set up many governments in the U.S. according to the number of plots owned, and Chinese white gloves can operate in the same way.”
Recent Comments