Republicans and Democrats Agree: Let States Regulate AI

There is strong, bipartisan opposition to the proposed 10-year moratorium on artificial intelligence regulation, according to results of a recent poll.

The provision, part of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, would limit states’ abilities to enforce laws they have passed related to AI, including those that involve privacy protections, discrimination and fraud. The federal budget bill cleared the U.S. House of Representatives in May and has moved to the U.S. Senate for consideration. The section has garnered criticism across sectors from technology policy advocates, as it would limit states’ legislative authority. Notably, its passage would violate the Byrd Rule, which prohibits the inclusion of “extraneous matter” in budget reconciliation legislation.

The poll of people across the political spectrum was conducted by Echelon Insights and commissioned by Common Sense Media, a nonpartisan organization that rates other media with age-based suitability measures. As such, the poll results focus primarily on supporting child safety, but have implications for adults as well.

“What we see in this data is really striking in its bipartisanship,” Echelon Insights Founding Partner Kristen Soltis Anderson said during a press briefing Thursday hosted by Common Sense Media.

A majority of both Republican and Democrat respondents agreed that although AI advances are exciting, they do not want states sitting on the sidelines for a decade. Responses were strong: 78 percent of Republicans and 86 percent of Democrats agreed.

Preventing states from passing and enforcing AI laws is “irresponsible and completely indefensible,” Jim Steyer, Common Sense Media founder and CEO, said.

“Not only does it infringe upon basic states’ rights — it stops states from regulating AI and other forms of tech and media without putting any federal protections in place,” Steyer said.

The provision is not expected to pass in the U.S. Senate because of the Byrd Rule, Steyer explained, noting his expectation that senators will, on a bipartisan basis, strike the provision from the overall bill based on parliamentary reasons. He said that Senators in both of the major political parties have spoken out about it.

“I’ll try to do everything I can to kill that,” Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told NOTUS. “It’s really terrible policy. I thought we were the party of individual rights.”
An important consideration in the regulatory puzzle is that “Congress has been missing in action for 25 years in this area,” according to Steyer. He said that Congress has passed no significant bills regulating the tech industry since the 1990s, saying it is “almost comical” to leave the regulatory authority to this legislative body rather than state governments, which have been actively enacting policy.

The public seemed to share this sentiment, as 75 percent of survey respondents agreed that Congress has not passed substantial legislation regulating big tech in more than two decades.

Importantly, the implications for states’ abilities to enforce AI regulations may impact other technology areas in which AI is increasingly playing a role, such as social media platforms. On this topic, too, both Republican and Democrat respondents overwhelmingly supported states’ ability to enforce regulations on social media.

While California has led the way in regulating tech, Steyer said, this provision could potentially impact age verification laws, privacy laws, cellphone-free schools, and social media warning labels.

Cellphone-free school policies are an increasing trend across state government. While this may not seem AI-related, Soltis Anderson said she suspects these regulatory efforts could be jeopardized.

With data demonstrating bipartisan opposition to the provision, it raises the question of who is pushing this legislative item. According to Steyer, it is the tech companies that want to advance their products without rules or regulations.

“There’s this massive arms race with four or five huge — almost oligopolistic — platforms dominating the space, and they don’t want any kind of regulation at all,” Steyer said, underlining that these companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying Congress on this issue.

Notably, the Take It Down Act was signed into law on May 19, making it a federal crime to create and share nonconsensual deepfake images of a sexual nature. The legislation had bipartisan support, but a narrow scope, Steyer said: “It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger issues involved in this discussion.”

Although Common Sense Media viewed the law’s passage positively, Steyer underlined that the organization does not have faith in Congress to comprehensively regulate AI. Still, it is “hopeful and optimistic” that the moratorium provision will not be part of the final bill.

Common Sense Media’s belief, Steyer said, is that the provision should be struck for three primary reasons: 1) It is in violation of the Byrd Rule, 2) it infringes on states’ rights, and 3) it is “wildly unpopular” with the public.

“We just think this is a very clear, simple matter: The provision should be removed and then we should go on and discuss the rest of the aspects of the budget reconciliation bill,” Steyer said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a visualization on who should regulate artificial intelligence.