On June 3, 2025, a bipartisan group of 260 state lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate expressing “strong opposition to the provision in Subtitle C, Part 2 of the tax and budget reconciliation bill, which would undermine ongoing work in the states to address the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).”
The letter was in response to a provision in the proposed tax and budget reconciliation bill that seeks to legislate a ten-year freeze on any state or local regulation of AI, in effect preempting states from enacting any laws that would regulate AI.
According to the letter, the preemption would “would cut short democratic discussion of AI policy in the states with a sweeping moratorium that threatens to halt a broad array of laws and restrict policymakers from responding to emerging issues.” Moreover,
[t]he sweeping federal preemption provision in Congress’s reconciliation bill would also overreach to halt a broad array of laws elected officials have already passed to address pressing digital issues. Over the past several years, states across the country have enacted AI-related laws increasing consumer transparency, setting rules for the government acquisition of new technology, protecting patients in our healthcare system, and defending artists and creators. State legislators have done thoughtful work to protect constituents against some of the most obvious and egregious harms of AI that the public is facing in real time. A federal moratorium on AI policy threatens to wipe out these laws and a range of legislation, impacting more than just AI development and leaving constituents across the country vulnerable to harm.
States have always been on the forefront of protecting consumers’ rights and interests. A proposed ten-year ban on states’ ability to determine what its citizens deem appropriate for their protection when it comes to AI is paternalistic and contradictory to the notion of decreasing the federal government to allow states to legislate for its citizens. It is inconceivable how rapidly AI will develop in the next ten years. Hamstringing state legislatures from addressing AI in any way for a decade is not prudent. If you agree, call your members of Congress and urge them to “reject any provisions that preempt state and local AI legislation in this year’s reconciliation package.
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