Congress makes incremental progress on AI policy

On Nov. 19, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation convened its last major hearing pertaining to artificial intelligence of the year — in this case, on the topic on Protecting Consumers from Artificial Intelligence (AI) Enabled Fraud and Scams. The weight of importance for getting the policy right on AI in the committee room was palpable. 

At the beginning of the hearing, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Wash.), chair of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security, quipped that “American leadership in AI is going to depend on which of many courses Congress takes going forward.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the ranking member to the Subcommittee, followed the Chair’s remark with a similarly anxious outlook on the direction of AI. The senator remarked that within her own home state, they have “the good, bad, and ugly relationship of AI.” 

Artificial intelligence, and generative AI more recently (often shortened to GenAI), continues to become embedded in everyday consumer technology like smart phones and web-based search engines like Google and Bing. AI and GenAI have also begun to become incorporated into many sectors in the economy, from predictive diagnostics in health care to fraud detection in the consumer financial industry. 

There is an increasing sentiment in Congress that the emerging technology has both the economic potency to power the U.S. economy for years to come, as well as the potential to present a range of novel security challenges and social implications akin to the rise of social media and the dawn of the internet that has transformed life in the 21st century. 

So what has Congress done so far, and how are county priorities faring?

Hearing topics on Capitol Hill have ranged from safeguarding the nation’s elections from disinformation fueled by GenAI, to preserving consumer data privacy rights, to ensuring transparency in models for AI. 

Both chambers of Congress also have their own AI working groups, with the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), and the Senate AI Working Group being led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).

The full passage into law of legislation pertaining to AI and GenAI, on the other hand, has been limited in the 118th Congress. Despite Congress having crafted more than 120 bills pertaining to AI and GenAI, Congress has only moved a limited number of bills through enough hurdles to have a chance to be fully passed and placed on the President’s desk.

Throughout the fall, leadership in both the House and Senate debated a deal to pass a package of AI legislation alongside end-of-year must-pass bills. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had both indicated they would attempt to attach AI-related bills on research and development and other key initiatives to end of year must-pass bills, such as a forthcoming appropriations deal or the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

However, by the first week of December, negotiations were reported to have fallen apart, as key lawmakers have decided to allow the dynamics of the forthcoming 119th Congress and new Administration to serve as the grounds for continued negotiations on the future of AI policy and regulation. 

For many of the bills that had passed out of committee and awaited broader passage in the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, including the bipartisan National Science Foundation AI Education Act and the Small Business Artificial Intelligence Training Act, they may have to wait until next Congress.

However, there is some celebration to be had for incremental progress. 

On Dec. 4, the U.S. Senate passed, with unanimous consent, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which would criminalize the non-consensual production and distribution of digitally created intimate images of individuals. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and NACo is listed as a supporting organization. The legislation now awaits full consideration in the House. 

So as Congress continues to deliberate on its path forward, where do counties fit into the puzzle?

As the novel technology continues to receive news coverage for both its utility in dramatically simplifying mundane tasks as well as being seen as an engine for economic competitiveness, counties are exploring the applications of AI and GenAI to county operations and services. 

The NACo Artificial Intelligence Exploratory Committee, which launched in May 2023 to explore the technology behind AI and GenAI and its potency for local government, debuted its AI County Compass earlier this year to provide education and best practices for counties across the country. Counties have used these insights to remain at the forefront of collaborating on an intergovernmental basis with federal partners to better understand the emerging technology and its implication for government operations and services.

This month, NACo also published its Key Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy Priorities for Counties for the 119th Congress, which comprise policy priorities voted on and passed by the full NACo membership at the 2024 Annual Conference in Hillsborough County, Fla. 

NACo’s key AI policy priorities include:

• establishing an intergovernmental governance structure to address the various uses of GenAI across different sectors
• creating a dedicated information sharing analysis center (ISAC)
• providing direct funding assistance to promote digital literacy and workforce development. 

Additionally, NACo supports legislation for a national AI education campaign focused on risk management, consumer education and workforce training.

Counties are committed to working with the new administration and Congress to advance these policy priorities in a bipartisan manner. Key initiatives to monitor in the new year will pertain to energy reform and land use for data centers, additional AI research and development on key governmental use cases, and continued integration of the technology into consumer products and services.

It remains to be seen how the new Congress will ultimately tackle AI and GenAI policy, but the purpose is clear — the technology is not going away.