Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) on June 4 released a 269-page discussion draft of the Great American Artificial Intelligence Act, pairing the most detailed frontier-model oversight regime Congress has yet proposed with a three-year preemption of state laws regulating AI development. Co-sponsors include Reps. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), and Scott Peters (D-Calif.).

The substantive guts are real. “Large frontier developers”, defined as labs with more than $500 million in prior-year gross revenue, would’ve to publish AI frameworks and report critical safety incidents. The bill formalizes the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, the rebranded successor to the Biden-era AI Safety Institute, with a $100 million annual authorization across FY2027 through FY2029. Per a Future of Privacy Forum analysis, employers would owe 60 days’ notice when AI is a “substantial factor” in a mass layoff. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 gets extended through FY2035.

Then comes the trade. A document from Trahan’s office concedes that California’s AB 2013 training-data disclosure law and part of SB 942 would be preempted, alongside any other state statute reaching model development rather than deployment.

That’s the live wire. Last July, the Senate stripped a 10-year state moratorium from budget reconciliation by a 99-1 vote, and the House Democratic Commission on AI has already called the new preemption language a nonstarter. Brendan Steinhauser of the Alliance for Secure AI praised the bipartisanship but said the bill “does not justify preempting states’ ability to pass their own AI safeguards.” The ACLU’s Jina John told the Christian Science Monitor that states “have been doing this work consistently for several years” while Washington plays catch-up.

Obernolte’s office will gather stakeholder feedback before formal introduction. The only federal vehicle currently operating is Trump’s June executive order on voluntary frontier-model review, which is to say: nothing binding. A shorter moratorium is still a moratorium, and the coalition that killed the last one hasn’t disbanded.

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