States would have to avoid regulating AI for 10 years to receive federal broadband funding under the proposal.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough announced on June 21 that the Republican-backed measure to put a temporary block on states’ regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) can remain in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
This means that the bill’s proposal to restrain state AI laws for 10 years can be part of Congress’s reconciliation process and could be passed with a simple majority.
Under the proposal, states that want access to federal funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program would be prohibited from regulating AI at a state level till 2035.
Should the measure pass, states that adhere to the nonregulation policy would have access to a portion of the $500 million headed to the Department of Commerce for the modernization and security of information technology systems.
The announcement came alongside advice from the parliamentarian that a number of other provisions in the bill would be subject to a 60-vote threshold, rather than a simple majority, if included in the bill. These include several immigration measures, among other provisions.
This AI policy, which originates from the Senate Commerce Committee and Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), is a change from the House version of the bill.
The House-passed legislation had a 10-year ban on any current or future AI regulations by the states. The Senate’s addition included a proposal to deny states federal funding for broadband projects if they regulate AI.
“These provisions fulfill the mandate given to President Trump and Congressional Republicans by the voters: to unleash America’s full economic potential and keep her safe from enemies,” Cruz said after the text was unveiled on June 19.
Opposition to the Measure
A group of Democratic senators from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voiced objection to the bill’s AI policy in a June 11 letter to Cruz.
In their letter, the senators also took issue with the AI moratorium in the commerce title of the bill, saying, “The AI moratorium proposal tramples states’ rights and holds the $42 billion BEAD program hostage, further delaying the broadband Americans desperately need.”
