Americans, we need your help to stop a dangerous AI bill from passing the Senate.
What’s going on?
- The House Energy & Commerce Committee included a provision in its reconciliation bill that would ban AI regulation by state and local governments for the next 10 years.
- Several states have led the way in AI regulation while Congress has dragged its heels.
- Stopping state governments from regulating AI might be okay, if we could trust Congress to meaningfully regulate it instead. But we can’t. This provision would destroy state leadership on AI and pass the responsibility to a Congress that has shown little interest in seriously preventing AI danger.
- If this provision passes the Senate, we could see a DECADE of inaction on AI.
- This provision also violates the Byrd Rule, a Senate rule which is meant to prevent non-budget items from being included in the reconciliation bill.
What can I do?
Here are 3 things you can do TODAY, in order of priority:
- (5 minutes) Call and email both of your Senators. Tell them you oppose AI preemption, and ask them to raise a point of order that preempting state AI regulation violates the Byrd Rule.
- Find your Senators here.
- Here’s an example of a call:
“Hello, my name is {YOUR NAME} and I’m a resident of {YOUR STATE}. The newest budget reconciliation bill includes a 10-year ban pre-empting state AI legislation without establishing any federal guardrails. This is extremely concerning to me – leading experts warn us that AI could cause mass harm within the next few years, but this provision would prevent states from protecting their citizens from AI crises for the next decade. It also violates the Byrd Rule, since preempting state AI regulation doesn’t impact federal taxes or spending.
I’d like the Senator to speak out against this provision and raise a point of order that this provision should not be included under the Byrd Rule.”
See here for sample call + email templates.
- (10+ minutes) Call and email Senators on the Budget Committee. This committee is front & center of the budget reconciliation bill – they need to hear from us.
- Find committee members here. Contact as many as you have time for.
- You can contact members even if you’re out-of-state – just tell them you’re a concerned citizen, and you’re reaching out because of their role on the Budget Committee.
- Ask them to call a point of order about the Byrd Rule because this proposed ban is not budget-related.
- See here for sample call + email templates.
- (5 minutes) Call and email Senate leadership with the same message.
- John Thune (Majority Leader): (202) 224-2321; Email Form
- Chuck Schumer (Minority Leader): (202) 224-6542; Email Form
- Lindsey Graham (Budget Committee Chair): (202) 224-5972; Email Form
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Mark your calendar to call your Senators every day – don’t let up until this insane provision has been removed.
Together, we can make the world a safer place.
Sharing some context about where we are, since coverage has really blown up since the provision was added. I am not working on this specific issue, so I can comment here:
For people who are going to reach out, I would focus on substantive concerns about the provisions, which may be effective even with states' rights-focused conservatives. Getting daily calls about parliamentary procedure may or may not change any minds. I promise even the proponents are aware of those hurdles.