260 state lawmakers from all 50 states urges Congress to oppose ten-year moratorium on state AI laws
On Tuesday, a bipartisan coalition of 260 state lawmakers urged Congress to oppose a ten-year moratorium on state AI laws included in the budget and reconciliation bill. The group, including legislators from all 50 states, noted that the sweeping 10-year ban on state AI rules would halt a broad array of laws on issues ranging from consumer transparency to protections for artists and would restrict policymakers from responding to emerging issues as the technology develops. Today’s letter follows a letter last month from 40 state attorneys general opposing the preemption measure.
Read the full letter from state legislators opposing the AI law moratorium.
“Lawmakers from every state in the country are sending a clear message that the proposed ban on state AI laws would freeze a whole range of common-sense laws that voters depend on,” said ARI President Brad Carson. “There’s room for a debate on preemption of a targeted set of state AI laws with the passage of a federal framework for AI governance. But this proposal fails on all counts, with an overbroad scope and nothing to offer when it comes to federal governance.”
The provision included in the budget and reconciliation bill would place a decade-long moratorium on the enforcement of “any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems,” with a handful of exemptions. The measure is likely to face challenges in the Senate where a procedural rule known as the Byrd Rule limits the inclusion of extraneous provisions in reconciliation bills.
Lawmakers signing today’s letter include 130 Republicans, 129 Democrats, and one Independent state legislator. The lead Republican on the letter is Rep. Brandon Guffey, from South Carolina’s House of Representatives and the lead Democrat is Senator Liz Larson, the minority leader in South Dakota’s State Senate.
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Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy advocacy in the public interest, focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Learn more at www.ari.us.