Microsoft's Quincy data center

New bills introduced this week in the Washington Legislature aim to get companies building new data centers in rural parts of the state by giving them a 15-month tax exemption on the purchase and installation of computers and energy.

The legislation takes aim at a controversial 2007 decision in which state Attorney General Rob McKenna found that an existing tax exemption didn't apply. Microsoft announced in August that it would be moving its Azure cloud-computing platform away from its Pacific Northwest data center in Quincy, Wash., as a result of the decision.

The bills in the state House and Senate are supported by a group called Washington Needs Jobs, which lists among its supporters Microsoft, Yahoo, the city of Quincy, the Washington Technology Industry Association and others. The group announced its campaign for the tax breaks last week.

"The exemption would likely attract to Washington companies that are currently building data centers elsewhere," the group says on its site. "Many of these companies have shown an interest in Washington, and some were building data centers here until it became clear that Washington's tax structure made the state uncompetitive for these facilities."