This Week in AI on Capitol Hill: Workforce Bills, a Floor Vote, and the Federal-State Tug of War
The big picture: Congress is moving on multiple AI legislation fronts simultaneously — but the threads don't all pull in the same direction. Here's what matters right now.
1. The House is set to vote on the Small Business AI Advancement Act (H.R. 3679) the week of Feb. 23, one of the few pieces of artificial intelligence policy to reach the floor this Congress.
2. A bipartisan push on AI workforce training is gaining steam, with new legislation and member statements from both parties signaling rare alignment on helping workers adapt to generative AI governance challenges.
3. The battle over federal preemption of state AI regulation remains the defining fault line in Congress, with the White House still pushing for a legislative moratorium that the Senate rejected 99–1 last summer — and states rushing to fill the vacuum.
Small Business AI Advancement Act Heads to the House Floor
The most concrete action this week: the House is scheduling a floor vote on H.R. 3679, the Small Business Artificial Intelligence Advancement Act, during the week of Feb. 23. That makes it one of the few AI-focused bills to advance this far in the 119th Congress — notable given that 145 AI bills have been introduced but only one has passed.
The bill aims to give small businesses access to AI tools and resources, a narrower and less contentious approach than the sweeping algorithmic accountability or AI regulation Congress has debated in other contexts. Its inclusion on the House floor schedule alongside measures like the ACERO Act and the ASCEND Act signals leadership confidence it can attract broad support.
The timing matters. With state legislatures moving aggressively on AI governance — Arizona's new House Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Committee just approved a kids chatbot safety bill 7–0, and Florida is advancing an AI Bill of Rights — there's growing pressure on Congress to show it can act, even incrementally.
No hearings were scheduled on the bill this week, and lobbying spending data on the specific measure was not available. But the broader AI issue area has drawn 1,351 lobbying disclosure filings from 475 organizations this Congress, spanning technology companies, trade associations, defense contractors, and civil society groups — an indication of the enormous commercial stakes surrounding even modest generative AI governance proposals.
The question now: does H.R. 3679 pass with a comfortable margin, or does it become a vehicle for amendments that expand the debate into more contentious AI regulation Congress has so far avoided?
AI Workforce Training: Rare Bipartisan Ground
If there's one area where Democrats and Republicans are finding common cause on artificial intelligence policy, it's workforce development. This week brought new legislation, member statements, and community events all focused on the same question: how do American workers keep up?
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5) introduced H.R. 7576 on Feb. 13, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code and create a tax credit for businesses that provide AI training to their workforce. He framed it in stark terms:
The same week, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) introduced H.R. 7585, a broader bill establishing support programs for workers in industries likely to be disrupted by AI and other emerging technologies.
The two approaches are complementary: Gottheimer's bill uses tax incentives to encourage employer-led training; Schneider's takes a wider view of workforce transition support. According to FedScoop, the Gottheimer-Lawler bill would also task the Departments of Commerce, Labor, and Treasury with launching a public awareness campaign to encourage AI career development investment.
The bipartisan nature of these efforts is significant. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) co-sponsored the tax credit bill, and member statements from both sides of the aisle this week reinforced the theme. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) expressed concern about AI's impact on young workers:
On the Republican side, Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA-9) celebrated local AI education investment:
Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL-11) hosted a community panel on AI's education impact. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI-3) announced over $1 million in AI federal funding for responsible AI research at Grand Valley State University. Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) spoke with Purdue students about AI in policymaking.
Both bills are in their earliest stages — introduced and referred to committee, with no hearings yet scheduled. But the volume of member engagement suggests workforce development could be the pathway for Congress to notch a tangible win on AI legislation this session, even as larger regulatory questions remain unresolved.
The industries watching this space are broad. Technology companies, healthcare firms, financial services providers, and defense contractors all face workforce adaptation challenges as AI reshapes their operations. Trade associations and labor unions alike have been active in the 475-organization lobbying ecosystem around AI, though specific spending figures on workforce-related bills were not available this week.
Federal Preemption vs. State AI Regulation: The Fight That Won't Go Away
The most consequential AI debate in Congress isn't about any single bill — it's about who gets to regulate AI at all.
The backdrop: President Trump's December 2025 executive order asserted federal authority over AI regulation and directed the DOJ to create an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge state AI laws. According to Politico, the White House is still pushing Congress to give the preemption effort legislative staying power.
Congress has already weighed in — loudly. Last summer, the Senate voted 99–1 to strip a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws from the budget reconciliation bill, a bipartisan rebuke led by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). That vote made clear the Senate has no appetite for a blanket federal preemption of state algorithmic accountability and AI governance efforts.
But the White House hasn't backed down. StateScoop reported that after the moratorium was omitted from the 2026 defense bill, Trump moved to accomplish the same goal through executive action.
Meanwhile, states aren't waiting. The Transparency Coalition's legislative tracker shows a surge in state-level AI bills covering everything from political advertising to mental health therapy to health insurance transparency. Arizona created the nation's first dedicated House AI committee. Florida is advancing an AI Bill of Rights.
This creates a complicated dynamic for the technology industry. Many companies — particularly large AI developers — would prefer a single federal framework to a patchwork of 50 state laws. But the Senate's 99–1 vote suggests that outcome isn't achievable through Congress anytime soon.
Adding to the tension: national security concerns about AI chip exports. Rep. Sydney Kamlager (D-CA-37) raised alarms about the administration's approval of AI chip sales to the UAE:
And Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) flagged concerns about autonomous weapons:
A Politico Magazine analysis noted contradictions in the administration's approach: the "Genesis Mission" executive order emphasizes data for AI innovation while agencies simultaneously delete datasets and fire employees who manage them.
The bottom line: The federal preemption fight is the structural question underneath every other AI debate in Congress. Until it's resolved — through legislation, court challenges to the executive order, or political exhaustion — every piece of AI legislation moves through a landscape where the basic question of regulatory authority remains unsettled. And with 475 organizations lobbying on AI and states accelerating their own efforts, the pressure on Congress to define its role is only growing.