House Commerce Passes AI Moratorium Text Despite Mounting State Opposition
During a 26-hour markup Tuesday, the House Commerce Committee approved reconciliation language that would set a 10-year moratorium on enforcement of state AI laws (see 2505130069). Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us Wednesday that discussions are ongoing in the upper chamber about moratorium language.
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Groups of state lawmakers are continuing opposition campaigns. Maryland Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D) and Virginia Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado (D) led a coalition of Democratic lawmakers in formal opposition Wednesday, as expected. “The federal government should not get to control literally every aspect of how states regulate AI -- particularly when they themselves have fallen down on the job -- and the Constitution makes pretty clear that the bill as written is far, far too broad,” they wrote, citing the 10th Amendment.
Asked about coordination with House Republicans, Cruz told us Wednesday: “We’re engaged in ongoing discussions.”
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us the House language is “probably too broad.” Congress must set national standards for AI, but not at the cost of blocking all activity at the state level, she said.
The National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan organization that does research for legislators and their staff in all 50 states, sent a letter Tuesday asking the committee to remove moratorium language, arguing the provision could violate the Senate’s Byrd Rule, which limits reconciliation to spending and revenue provisions.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., filed an amendment at Tuesday’s markup in an attempt to remove the moratorium language, calling it an “unprecedented giveaway to Big Tech.” Republicans “refused” to move bipartisan, comprehensive privacy legislation in 2024 at the request of the tech industry, and now they want to leave states “powerless” to respond to AI-driven threats, he said. The amendment failed on a 24-29 vote.
Congress must do “our work” on AI in a “bipartisan way” to create a single standard across the country, Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said at the markup. “I’m not saying we have, but we’re hopefully going to find a solution. We know we have to have a national standard.” Guthrie told us Wednesday that the AI moratorium language originated from Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and members on the House AI Task Force.
Obernolte, at Tuesday’s markup, cited support from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), who reportedly backed the moratorium concept while calling for a shorter time frame. Polis’ office didn’t comment Wednesday. Obernolte said Congress must get its “act together” and regulate AI-related issues in interstate commerce, as outlined in Article 1 of the Constitution.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, co-led by Obernolte, worked for two years on “thoughtful” AI legislative proposals. Congress hasn’t codified any of those proposals owing to tech industry lobbying, she said. A state moratorium ensures further inaction on AI regulation, she added.