Congress is still considering an amendment in President Doanld Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that would limit states’ abilities to regulate artificial intelligence.
It’s a controversial move according to several Virginia elected officials, even as the Senate parliamentarian Okay’d its inclusion over the weekend despite Senate rule concerns.
A former tech lawyer, Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado spoke at the Forum Global’s inaugural USA Artificial Intelligence Summit earlier this month— just as Congress considered adding the ban on states from putting their own limits on AI.
“If we don’t have the ability as a state to regulate that, that’s a problem,” Maldonado said.
Back in DC, Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno told AP, “AI doesn’t understand state borders,” warning of interstate commerce issues if a patchwork of state laws was created.
But Maldonado disagrees, especially as fights over data centers that process AI and the power needed to keep them running roil the Commonwealth.
“If we’re only relying on the federal government to tell states and localities what they can do, how to protect their people in the midst of this land development, technological development," Maldonado told Radio IQ. "I think that presents a risk for dangerous outcomes.”
At the summit, the delegate spoke alongside other state elected officials, including Texas state representative Giovanni Capriglione. The Lone Star State Republican had big regulatory plans, but what was signed into law earlier this year has been called “watered down” by watchdog groups. Instead of sweeping new limits on private companies, it largely impacts state agencies.
Without a federal moratorium on new state regulations, Maldonado hopes transparency in the private sector in Virginia could lead to more trust of the industry and better regulation in the future.
“I think we are in a trust crisis in this country at this moment, whether its politics or big corporations, people don’t trust,” she told Radio IQ. “So, transparency and disclosures are going to be very important."
Notably, Maldonado pushed for limits on the industry during the 2025 legislative session only to have them vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“This bill would harm the creation of new jobs, the attraction of new business investment, and the availability of innovative technology in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” the governor said in his veto explanation.
But Youngkin did approve regulations for private companies when they work with state agencies. Critics say they align with non-controversial standards for procurement rules.
Critics of Maldonado's effort said it could cost up to $30 million in compliance costs, but with a new governor expected next year Democratic leadership on the House Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) are still eyeing reforms.
“The threat of commercialization of AI… they knew the potential of AI getting steered off into a direction that none of us want,” said Delegate Cliff Hayes, JCOT’s chair. “It should always have human oversight and that’s going come by way of state regulation.”
Hayes also warned of a federal ban on state level AI regulations.
“There has to be that oversight, that regulation, that framework that will guide this innovation for the betterment of humanity,” he said, suggesting another commission that could continually respond to changes in the rapidly developing AI space may be needed.
“This isn’t just a snapshot, there needs to be a regulatory body made up of professionals, stakeholders from relevant industries, that oversees regulation,” he said.
And Virginia Republicans aren’t ready to give up AI regulatory authority to DC just yet either.
Delegate Michael Webert’s rural, ruby-red district is impacted by power infrastructure being built to support AI-processing data centers just outside his district and he wants to be sure Virginia can decide how to address the issue.
“A preemptive nationwide ban on any type of state rules isn’t the way forward; what Virginia’s policy path is going to be for this huge energy consuming industry is different than what it may be in states that aren’t already importing a third of their power,” Webert told Radio IQ Monday. “One size fits all solutions aren’t the answer here.”
The congressional ban, which may manifest as withholding federal funds for broadband projects from states if they regulate the industry, is getting bipartisan pushback and may still be stripped from the final bill.
Trump has said he wants the Big Beautiful Bill signed by July 4th, but experts expect it to be completed sometime this summer.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
