Ohio legislators slam latest federal threat to curtail state AI laws

A renewed effort in Washington, D.C., to block states from enforcing artificial intelligence regulations has drawn opposition from Ohio lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

U.S. House Republicans recently indicated they may include a preemption provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, which must be passed before the end of the year.

It would be the chamber’s second attempt to ban AI regulation at the state level after the U.S. Senate previously nixed a 10-year preemption proposal from a federal budget reconciliation measure. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, July 9, 2025).

Rep. Thad Claggett, R-Newark, was among several state lawmakers expressing concern over past and future efforts to handcuff states on the issue.
By barring the Legislature from acting as it sees fit, he said, the state would be unable to create policies to protect residents from AI criminal activity.

“AI is going to be used detrimentally against our people, and so we want to see some regulations put in to prepare our courts to be able to deal with that problem,” he said in an interview.

Rep. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus, added that states need to legislate the technology based on the needs of their constituents.

“This is a national concern with energy and water prices soaring,” she said in a statement. “Legislating AI at the federal level is going to create problems for localities in Ohio, and Ohioans deserve to have the legislative process be closer to home.”

Claggett and Cockley were among 280 state lawmakers who signed a letter to Congress expressing “strong opposition” to the proposal, Pluribus News reported.

Other Ohio signatories included Rep. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus; Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria; Rep. Johnathan Newman, R-Troy; Rep. David Thomas, R-Jefferson; and Sen. Jane Timken, R-Canton.

By preventing legislatures from acting on AI, legislators wrote that the ban, “would stifle needed innovation in policy design at a moment when it is most needed.”

“A blanket prohibition on state and local AI and automated decision-system regulation would abruptly cut off active democratic debate in statehouses and impose a sweeping pause on policymaking at the very moment when communities are seeking responsive solutions,” wrote the bipartisan group.

President Donald Trump, along with AI industry leaders and venture capitalists, has pushed for federal preemption, arguing that state-level regulations are onerous and threaten the United States’s ability to compete with China for AI supremacy.

Trump was reportedly prepared to sign an executive order on Friday aimed at squelching state efforts to pass and enforce artificial intelligence regulations, though that effort was quickly paused.

The administration, however, did issue a new plan this week to mount "a dedicated, coordinated national effort to unleash a new age of AI-accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century."

The initiative, dubbed the Genesis Mission, would prioritize national, economic and health security in addition to biotechnology, quantum computing and semiconductors, according to the White House.

Claggett said he welcomes some federal legislation on the nascent technology, but noted that state governments have acted more quickly to establish AI guardrails.

“I don’t disagree with the premise that the president has about having one system for the nation on some of the stuff,” he said.

“I tend to agree with that in the macro-philosophical sense, but I'm not going to stand here and allow Ohioans to be damaged by AI in criminals’ hands without doing something about it.”

Claggett, the chair of the House Technology & Innovation Committee, said his committee is currently reviewing about 15 AI-related measures.

One of those proposals would bar political subdivisions and state agencies from restricting the use of computational resources like AI — a measure receiving support from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Buckeye Institute. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, October 7, 2025)

The chair noted that most of the AI bills have been amended and likely will be subject to further changes when the panel resumes business next year. House committee meetings are currently expected to resume in February.

Claggett predicted several of those bills will advance.

“I think lot of the bills in our committee will ultimately get out of committee, because I think there's a lot of good ones,” Claggett said.