Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
The House Energy and Commerce reconciliation package contains a number of telecom and AI provisions that could reshape the tech policy landscape.
Why it matters: If these provisions make it through, this Congress would get a jump on some longstanding AI, spectrum and government IT priorities that are normally difficult to pass via standalone bills.
Here are the tech items we spotted in the communications subtitle of E&C's reconciliation text:
Spectrum: The text would reauthorize the FCC's spectrum auction authority for 10 years.
- It also directs the FCC and NTIA to "identify at least 600 MHz of commercial and federal spectrum to be auctioned off by 2034" while "protecting U.S. national security," per a summary of the provided by the committee.
- "Our legislation to reauthorize the FCC's spectrum auction authority is the most comprehensive spectrum legislation in years and sets our innovators up to compete and succeed globally," said Daniel Kelly, House E&C press secretary.
- CTIA CEO and former FCC chair Ajit Pai called the provision "critical to meeting consumer demand for mobile connectivity, promoting U.S. economic competitiveness, and protecting national security" in a statement.
Commerce tech upgrades: The bill would invest in modernizing IT systems for the Department of Commerce and using more AI tools for "secure and effective systems," per the summary.
- The bill text appropriates $500 million for this project, including for deploying commercial AI and the replacement of antiquated systems, according to the bill text.
- That provision will come as welcome news to AI firms that want a chance to compete for government contracts.
State AI law pre-emption: The bill "includes strong guardrails against conflicting state level, AI-specific laws that would otherwise jeopardize American technological leadership," the summary states.
- "No state or political subdivision thereof may enforce any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, systems or automated decisions systems during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act," the bill text reads.
What we're watching: The state AI laws provision could run into issues with the Senate's Byrd Rule, which limits extraneous provisions in reconciliation bills.
- Sen. Ted Cruz has also floated the idea of pre-empting state-level AI laws, which have been increasingly passing as the federal government stalls on comprehensive AI legislation.
That particular language is drawing mixed reactions. NetChoice director of federal and state affairs Zach Lilly posted on X that the moratorium would "[prevent] US innovators from being crushed under an avalanche of regulation."
- Americans for Responsible Innovation president Brad Carson: "Without first passing significant federal rules for AI, banning state lawmakers from taking action just doesn't make sense."
The big picture: Different House committees are putting forth their ideas for the larger reconciliation package, but there's still a lot of work to be done before Republicans can get a bill to President Trump's desk.
What's next: E&C is set to mark up the reconciliation text on Tuesday.
