A Louisiana state senator helped secure Meta's largest datacenter. Then he sold the land beside it

A Louisiana state senator helped enable Meta’s Hyperion datacenter in Richland Parish by lobbying a utility regulator, cosponsoring bills that supported a land deal, and voting for additional measures providing large tax breaks. Over the past 15 months, he and business partners bought and sold land around the project, with recent sales of hundreds of acres to Entergy for a methane-burning power plant supplying electricity for the datacenter. The land transactions were not disclosed publicly until a review of legislative filings, votes, media coverage, and senate records. Louisiana law does not require disclosure of sale prices, leaving the amount of personal gain unclear. Experts said the pattern could violate state ethics laws requiring officials to avoid financial benefit, recuse when conflicts exist, and avoid using public office for private gain.

"For more than two years, John Jay Morris, a Louisiana state senator, helped pave the way for Meta to build one of the world's largest datacenters, called Hyperion, in Richland Parish. The Republican attorney lobbied a utility regulator for a key approval. He cosponsored two bills that enabled the land deal between Meta and the state. And he voted yea on two additional bills that provided the trillion-dollar tech company with tax breaks worth an estimated $3.3bn."

"Now, a Floodlight investigation has found that while Morris used his political position to advance the project, he and his business partners were buying and selling the land around it over the past 15 months. As recently as February, Morris and his partners sold hundreds of acres to utility giant Entergy for a methane-burning power plant to provide electricity for the datacenter."

"It's unclear how much money he has made from these transactions. Louisiana law does not require buyers and sellers to publicly disclose sale prices. Experts said the senator's actions raise a serious issue of a possible violation of state ethics laws such as La RS 42:1112(A), 42:1120 and 42:1101 which prohibit government officials from participating in official actions that benefit them financially, require them to recuse themselves from voting when a conflict exists and prohibit the use of public office for private gain."

"What makes it particularly egregious is not one isolated vote, but a sustained pattern: creating legal authority for a specific land deal, backing a huge tax break, lobbying a regulator, quietly positioning personal real estate around the project, said Dane Ciolino, a professor and expert in governmental ethics at Loyola University New Orleans."

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