Community-Owned Digital Infrastructure + Food Security Act

Rodney LaBruce for Congress – TX-30

The Problem

South Dallas has endured decades of disinvestment that produced food deserts, unstable infrastructure, and lost economic opportunity. At the same time, North Texas has become a national center for digital infrastructure, yet these developments rarely build local wealth and often strain community resources.

We cannot end poverty if our neighborhoods are used to power the digital economy without sharing in its ownership.

The Vision

District 30 will pioneer a new model of community-owned digital infrastructure that generates permanent local wealth, strengthens the power grid, protects water resources, and directly funds food security.

This is not about inviting corporate extraction. It is about building infrastructure sovereignty.

Core Framework

1. Community-Owned Digital Infrastructure Campuses

Vacant schools, grocery stores, and municipal properties will be converted into Community Digital Infrastructure Campuses under the following requirements:

Ownership & Wealth Building
• A minimum 20 percent ownership stake held by a Community Digital Equity Trust
• Trust dividends legally restricted to food access, housing stability, and youth workforce pipelines
• Equity shares cannot be sold, transferred, or leveraged by outside entities

Energy Justice Mandate
• On-site solar generation with battery storage
• Net-zero grid impact
• Grid-stabilizing capacity available to surrounding neighborhoods during peak demand
• Emergency cooling and power access for community use during outages

Water Protection Standard
• Closed-loop or air-cooled systems only
• Zero potable-water cooling
• Annual public water-impact audit

Labor & Hiring
• Paid apprenticeships and youth pipelines
• Local hiring minimums
• Union labor standards on all construction and operations contracts

2. Anti-Displacement & Land Protection

Community Land Trust Expansion
• All adjacent land placed into CLTs before development
• Permanent affordability covenants for surrounding housing

Neighborhood Stability Protections
• Property-tax freezes for long-term residents
• Mandatory anti-displacement impact studies prior to permitting
• First-right-to-purchase programs for nearby residents

3. Food Security Dividend Program

Every campus must fund a Food Security Dividendsourced from Community Digital Equity Trust profits:

• Grocery co-ops and independent grocer grants
• Mobile fresh-food markets
• Renewable-powered urban farms on adjacent land
• Mandatory “Fresh Food Blueprint” tied to every project approval

A “Fiber & Food” matching program will require all corporate partners to match food-security contributions dollar-for-dollar.

4. Anti-Corporate Welfare Clause

There will be:

• No tax abatements without wage, hiring, and equity guarantees
• Automatic clawbacks for missed commitments
• Performance-based incentives only
• Public disclosure of all community benefit agreements

Bottom Line

District 30 will not be a place where technology extracts value.
It will be a place where the digital economy is owned locally, powered responsibly, and invested back into food, housing, and families.

We are not building data centers.
We are building infrastructure that ends poverty.