A North Dakota joint House-Senate policy committee on Wednesday recommended rejecting Senate Bill 2406, which would impose added repercussions on data-center and other industrial developers that sign nondisclosure agreements with public agencies or officials. The bill will advance to the full Senate with a do-not-pass recommendation after the committee adopted an amendment clarifying that state agencies may still use confidentiality agreements to protect sensitive project information. Several lawmakers said the issue was too complex for the three-day Special Session, while supporters argued current open-records penalties are too weak and that developers as well as officials should face consequences, including possible permit revocation. The action follows earlier Special Session votes in which House and Senate Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to add $9 million for childcare assistance and to pause data-center permitting through June 2027. North Dakota has multiple data-center projects proposed or under way, including Applied Digital’s facility near Harwood, and a separate panel is studying data centers and artificial intelligence ahead of possible 2027 legislation.