Senate Considers Modified BEAD-Focused 'Pause' on AI Laws for Reconciliation
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough on Saturday cleared a revised version of Commerce Committee Republicans’ budget reconciliation proposal for a freeze on enforcing state-level AI rules in a way that backers claim doesn't directly threaten funding from NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program (see 2506060029). However, Senate Democratic aides told us they believe it would still put all states’ BEAD allocations at risk. The measure is an apparent alternative to language in the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR-1) that would impose a 10-year federal preemption of such laws (see 2505220064).
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Senate Commerce Republicans’ modified AI language would require recipients of an additional $500 million in AI-related BEAD money to seek what the proposal now calls a “temporary pause” of state-level AI laws. The additional BEAD money would build infrastructure “for the provision of artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems.” Republicans sought the changes in a successful bid to clear the parliamentarian’s review of what provisions would be germane under chamber rules for reconciliation measures, lobbyists told us. Germaine provisions are not subject to the usual 60-vote cloture threshold.
A Senate Democratic aide emailed that the proposal now “amends the current BEAD requirements to allow NTIA to deobligate all [of the current funding] to states and, when NTIA reobligates the funding, the new … conditions would attach. This creates a backdoor to apply new AI requirements” to all the money, rather than just the additional $500 million. “States have already received initial BEAD allocations and all 50 have approved plans,” the Democratic aide said. The revised proposal means states obligated broadband funds "could be held hostage to the AI moratorium, [including via] new requirements that states must certify compliance with [a] 10-year AI moratorium to receive BEAD money, including already-allocated funds awaiting distribution to subgrantees.”
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said Sunday that his “amendment to strip the AI moratorium from the reconciliation bill is ready to go. I urge other members to join me and block this dangerous provision.” Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have also been eyeing an amendment to excise the AI moratorium (see 2506110052). Public Citizen and 13 other groups are circulating a petition opposing the AI language.
The Senate is likely to hold an initial procedural vote Thursday on the combined reconciliation package via a motion to proceed, lobbyists told us. The chamber would then begin a “vote-a-rama,” an unlimited series of votes on proposed amendments to the reconciliation package, before final consideration of the measure.