People Power United proudly joined a coalition opposing House Republicans’ attempt to block states from regulating AI
🗽A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.
People Power United proudly joined a coalition opposing House Republicans’ attempt to block states from regulating AI—an abuse of power that puts corporate interests over public safety. Learn more in this CNN article.
📄 Read the letter sent on behalf of our People Power United members:
May 19, 2025
Speaker Mike Johnson
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies
The Honorable Members of the United States Congress
Washington, D.C. 20510
Re: Opposition to Federal Preemption of State AI Laws
Dear Mr. Speaker, Mr. Jeffries, and Members of Congress,
We, the undersigned organizations committed to protecting civil rights, promoting consumer protections, and fostering responsible innovation, write to express our strong opposition to a provision in the House Energy and Commerce Committee Draft Budget Resolution, passed out of committee on May 14, that would preempt state and local laws governing artificial intelligence (AI).
The scope of Section 43201(c) “Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Modernization Initiative: Moratorium" is sweeping. As AI systems increasingly shape critical aspects of Americans’ lives—including hiring, housing, healthcare, policing, and financial services—states have taken important steps to protect their residents from the risks posed by unregulated or inadequately governed AI technologies. As we have learned during other periods of rapid technological advancement, like the industrial revolution and the creation of the automobile, protecting people from being harmed by new technologies, including by holding companies accountable when they cause harm, ultimately spurs innovation and adoption of new technologies. In other words, we will only reap the benefits of AI if people have a reason to trust it.
This total immunity provision blocks enforcement of all state and local legislation governing AI systems, AI models, or automated decision systems for a full decade, despite those states moving those protections through their legislative processes, which include input from stakeholders, hearings, and multistakeholder deliberations. This moratorium would mean that even if a company deliberately designs an algorithm that causes foreseeable harm — regardless of how intentional or egregious the misconduct or how devastating the consequences — the company making that bad tech would be unaccountable to lawmakers and the public. In many cases, it would make it virtually impossible to achieve a level of transparency into the AI system necessary for state regulators to even enforce laws of general applicability, such as tort or antidiscrimination law.
Despite how little is publicly known about how many AI systems work, harms from those systems are already well-documented, and states are acting to mitigate those harms. Many state laws are designed to prevent harms like algorithmic discrimination and to ensure recourse when automated systems harm individuals. For example, there are many documented cases of AI having highly sexualized conversations with minors1 and even encouraging minors to commit harm to themselves and others2; AI programs making healthcare decisions that have led to adverse and biased outcomes;3 and AI enabling thousands of women and girls to be victimized by nonconsensual deepfakes.4
Congress’s inability to enact comprehensive legislation enshrining AI protections leaves millions of Americans more vulnerable to existing threats described above such as discrimination and all of us exposed to the unpredictable safety risks posed by this nascent industry. Fortunately, states across the nation, on a bipartisan basis, have pioneered thoughtful frameworks that promote transparency, accountability, safety, and fairness in AI deployment. Two-thirds of states, including Kentucky, Ohio, North Dakota and New Jersey have considered common-sense laws that address gaps in federal protections and are crafted in close dialogue with impacted communities. Those states are filling the need for substantive policy debate over how to safely advance development of this technology.
Federal preemption would invalidate key state laws that protect against “high impact” AI, which is contrary to the Trump administration's executive memo5 aiming to protect consumers from AI harms in employment, lending, education, and beyond. Protections for civil rights and children’s privacy, transparency in consumer-facing chatbots to prevent fraud, and other safeguards would be invalidated, even those that are uncontroversial. The resulting unfettered abuses of AI or automated decision systems could run the gamut from pocketbook harms to working families like decisions on rental prices, to serious violations of ordinary Americans’ civil rights, and even to large-scale threats like aiding in cyber attacks on critical infrastructure or the production of biological weapons.
No person, no matter their politics, wants to live in a world where AI makes life-or-death decisions without accountability. This is underscored by the fact that state attorneys general, from all 50 states, have warned Congress6that AI has been used to harm children including through child sexual abuse material. Further, many state attorneys general have also shown interest in pursuing enforcement actions based on the laws in their own states, which would be barred by this preemption language. This includes state attorneys general from Alabama,7 California,8 New Jersey,9 Oregon,10 Massachusetts,11 Texas,12 and Pennsylvania13 among others.
Section 43201(c) is not the only provision in this package that is of concern to our organizations, and there are some provisions on which we will undoubtedly disagree with each other. However, when it comes to this provision, we are united. You must reject this sweeping proposal. Americans deserve both meaningful federal protections and the ability of their states to lead in advancing safety, fairness, and accountability when AI systems cause harm.
Sincerely,
ArtsKC - Regional Arts Council
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Association of Educational Service Agencies
Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
Brennan Center for Justice
California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED)
California Nurses Association/National Nurses United
California School Employees Association
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for Inclusive Change
Center for Responsible Lending
Center on Policy Initiatives
Children Now
Children's Advocacy Institute, University of San Diego School of Law
Clearinghouse on Women's Issues
Climate and Community Institute
Colorado Center on Law and Policy
Common Sense Media
Community Change Action
Connecticut Voices for Children
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
Costume Designers Guild
Courage California
Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan
Dance/USA
Data & Society
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
Distributed AI Research Institute
Economic Policy Institute
Economic Security Project Action
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Encode AI
Fair Vote UK
Feminist Majority Foundation
Fight for the Future
FPWA
Free Press Action
Friends of the Earth US
Future of Music Coalition
Green Web Foundation
Greenpeace USA
Groundwork Collaborative
HTTP
Innocence Project
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Institute for Strategic Dialogue
Interfaith Center on Corporate
Responsibility
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
Investor Alliance for Human Rights
Kapor Center
LatinoProsperity
Lawyers for Good Government
Legal Momentum, The Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund
Local Progress
Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)
Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice
Mozilla
National Action Network
National Association of Consumer
Advocates
National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low-income clients
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Employment Law Project
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Guild for Community Arts
Education
National Health Law Program
National Immigration Law Center
National Institute for Workers' Rights
National Music Council of the United States
National Nurses United
National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women (CA NOW)
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Union of Healthcare Workers
National Women's Law Center
NCNW
New Jersey Policy Perspective
North Alabama Area Labor Council
Oregon Consumer Justice
Outten & Golden LLP
P Street
People Power United
PowerSwitch Action
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Public Citizen
Public Knowledge
S.T.O.P. - The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
SEIU California
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Silicon Valley Rising Action
Stand.earth
Take on Wall Street
Teamsters Local 70
Tech Justice Law Project
TechEquity
The Bell Policy Center
The Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law
The Freedom BLOC
The Greenlining Institute
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The Southern Poverty Law Center
The Value Alliance
The Workers Lab
Towards Justice
Transparency Coalition
U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
UFCW Western States Council
Ujima, The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
UltraViolet
UnidosUS
United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry
United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW)
University of California, Santa Cruz - Center for Labor and Community
University of Essex
Warehouse Worker Resource Center
William E. Morris Institute for Justice
Working Partnerships USA
Workplace Justice Project
X-Lab
Young People’s Alliance
1 https://www.pcmag.com/news/meta-ai-capable-of-having-sexual-conversations-with-minors2 https://www.npr.org/2024/12/10/nx-s1-5222574/kids-character-ai-lawsuit
3 https://www.axios.com/2023/12/20/ai-bias-diagnosis
4 https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/tech/ai-deepfake-porn-advice-terms-of-service-wellness 5https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/M-25-21-Accelerating-Federal-Use-of-AI-throug h-Innovation-Governance-and-Public-Trust.pdf
6https://www.naag.org/press-releases/54-attorneys-general-call-on-congress-to-study-ai-and-its-harmful-e ffects-on-children/
7https://www.alabamaag.gov/attorney-general-marshall-urges-congress-to-ban-china-based-ai-platform-d eepseek-on-government-devices/
8https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-issues-legal-advisories-application-califor nia-law-ai
9https://www.njoag.gov/attorney-general-platkin-and-division-on-civil-rights-announce-new-guidance-on-al gorithmic-discrimination-creation-of-civil-rights-innovation-lab/
10
11https://www.mass.gov/news/ag-campbell-issues-advisory-providing-guidance-on-how-state-consumer-pr otection-and-other-laws-apply-to-artificial-intelligence
12
13https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/ag-henry-leads-26-states-in-urging-federal-authorities-to-r estrict-usage-of-artificial-intelligence-in-marketing-phone-calls/
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