Leaked documents about emerging federal policy on artificial intelligence are now real as the White House has released an Executive Order laying out a policy framework that restricts infrastructure funding flowing to states for improving broadband access.
"NCSL strongly opposes any effort to override state-level artificial intelligence laws whether through executive action or legislation," said Illinois House Rep. Marcus C. Evans Jr. – D, and Montana State Sen. Barry Usher -R, in a joint statement from the National Council of State Legislatures.
Evans serves as the assistant majority leader and the president of NCSL. Usher is the majority whip and president-elect of NCSL.
"These attempts undermine the democratic process and disregard the extensive bipartisan work already underway in state legislatures. The best path forward is partnership, not preemption."
Public finance interests enter the AI fray as the EO gives the Secretary of Commerce a ninety-day deadline for issuing a public notice that specifies "the conditions under which states may be eligible for remaining funding under the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program."
BEAD is a $42.5 billion component of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was designed to improve broadband access in underserved communities. It has since turned into a political football.
In March, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced a rigorous review of BEAD, which led to President Trump terminating the Digital Equity Act, a $2.75 billion chunk of the BIL.
BEAD was hampered out of the gate by disagreements over a
It attracted Congressional
In some cases, money was used by cities and states to fund communication union districts and launch publicly owned internet provider networks.
The Executive Order touches several AI-related hot buttons including child safety, crypto currency, the proliferation of data centers, and political considerations.
Per the EO, "State laws are increasingly responsible for requiring entities to embed ideological bias within models."
The White House move is viewed as a positive by tech companies who feel stymied trying to comply with a patchwork of state regulations.
All 50 states have introduced AI-related legislation, 38 already have laws on the books.
The EO calls out a Colorado law that bans "algorithmic discrimination" because "it may even force AI models to produce false results to avoid a 'differential treatment or impact' on protected groups."
NCSL's CEO Tim Storey spells out the organization's objection to the EO as "Coercive federalism that tries to tie federal money to state implementation of their AI laws."
The ability to breath legislative action into the EO and its legality remains in question.
James Paretti, a shareholder with Littler Mendelson's Washington D.C. office writes, "It remains unclear how quickly and completely the administration will move forward on the directives embodied in the order."
"It is also highly likely that the order will be challenged by states that have adopted AI regulation as an unconstitutional encroachment of federal authority on states' rights."
