Senate Commerce Republicans’ decision to tie a moratorium on state and local regulation of artificial intelligence to the federal broadband expansion program is raising new questions as Republicans push to pass their sweeping budget reconciliation bill in the coming days.
The provision, which was included in reconciliation text that the committee released Thursday, drops the 10-year moratorium on state and local regulation of AI that was in the House-passed reconciliation bill. Instead, the new language would provide $500 million in fiscal 2025 toward the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program for AI infrastructure that would condition eligibility on the pausing of any state or local regulations.
Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz said Thursday that the proposal would head to the Senate parliamentarian next week, according to Politico. But GOP opposition is already starting to brew: A spokesperson for Sen. Josh Hawley, the Missouri Republican who was an opponent of the House AI moratorium, confirmed a Punchbowl report that he is planning to draft an amendment with Democrats that would get rid of the revised language and force a vote during an impending Senate “vote-a-rama” if the provision isn’t removed by the time the bill hits the floor.
