Schumer calls the ratepayer bill voluntary and favors mandatory protections
Chuck SchumerSenate Democratic leader
Chuck Schumer says Democrats don't vote for frauds, calls the bill voluntary for companies, and says Democrats want its requirements to be mandatory.
“Because we don't vote for frauds. It's voluntary. Not a single company has to comply with it. If they wanted to do something real, if you still wanted to do something real instead of faking the people out, he would take one of the Democratic bills by Van Hollen and by Martin Heinrich and so many others that is real and has teeth. They want it optional, which means zero. We want it mandatory.”
Original video
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Would Jon Husted's Ratepayer Protection Act protect households from data-center costs?
Jon Husted and the bill's House sponsors say the Ratepayer Protection Act would stop households from paying for infrastructure needed by large data centers. Critics question whether requiring regulators to consider protective standards would deliver that result.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
The recording was published September 30. Schumer spoke at the September 29 Senate Democratic leadership briefing.
Reporting
About this source
NBC published Thune's remarks on September 30; the report does not specify the day of his answer.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
At the weekly Senate Democratic leadership press briefing, a reporter noted that the bill got 417 votes in the House, with almost the entire House Democratic caucus in favor, and asked why Senate and House Democrats were not on the same page.
After the quotation
NBC News reported that Schumer also told reporters the bill "does not require any protections at all" and that Republicans should take up bills by Van Hollen and Heinrich instead.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Schumer rejects the bill because he says it imposes no binding requirement to comply.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseBaratta says the bill mandates consideration without actual safeguards
“it only requires states to consider ratepayer protection, without mandating any actual safeguards around paying for data center energy use.”Read statement
Thune defends the ratepayer bill as consequential
“I don’t know how you can say something that passed the House of Representatives 417-3 isn’t consequential,”Read statement
Husted says his bill makes data centers pay their fair share
“My bill ensures that large data centers pay their fair share of electricity costs, infrastructure costs that they require, requiring them to own the responsibility for those costs rather than shifting them to other ratepayers.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Schumer calls the ratepayer bill voluntary and favors mandatory protections
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/6166-chuck-schumer-says-democrats-don-t-vote-for
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Schumer calls the ratepayer bill voluntary and favors mandatory protections". First published: 2026-10-20. Last updated: 2026-10-20. https://disputeindex.com/events/6166-chuck-schumer-says-democrats-don-t-vote-for