The White House on Friday released a National AI Legislative Framework that provides a “roadmap” for members in the House and Senate to preempt state laws with a “single national standard.” This is a follow up to the Executive Order (EO) RCRTech reported on March 11. The White House argues that a “patchwork” of 50 different state regulations hinders innovation and global competitiveness, with a speed-over-regulations approach that the Trump administration says will keep the U.S. ahead of rivals like China. That said, only Congress can officially pass laws that preempt or supersede state regulations; however, this framework makes preemption a starting point that multiple agencies can follow, including the Federal Trade Commission, Dept. of Justice, Department of Commerce, and Federal Communications Commission. By exerting maximum pressure on states, including threats to withhold millions, and in some states, billions-of-dollars in Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding, the administration hopes states will fall line with the national framework. 

 

In its framework, the administration does include “carve-outs” in which states can keep their power, including:

Despite those carveouts, it’s anticipated that there will be substantial pushback from state governments. RCRTech will continue to follow this story.