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NCSL Updates
Track the Action
As President Trump continues to shape policy through executive orders during his second term, this comprehensive tool allows users to monitor the evolving landscape of executive actions. Stay informed with NCSL’s new executive action tracker.
NCSL Responds to Federal Request for Comments on AI Action Plan
The National Conference of State Legislatures submitted comments highlighting the efforts of state legislatures to enact artificial intelligence legislation that strikes a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring consumer protection. The comments highlight state legislators as leaders and experts in the AI field and urge the administration to seek input from a bipartisan group of legislators while developing an AI action plan for America. The comments emphasize that far from creating a patchwork, states have built valuable expertise and bipartisan frameworks that can serve as models at the federal level. NCSL’s comments also share a range of organizational resources to support this work, including comprehensive legislative databases, policy resolutions from the Standing Committee on Technology and Communications, and publications from the NCSL Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Privacy and Cybersecurity. Read more
Congressional Updates
Congress Closes FY 2025 Appropriations With Final CR
The continuing resolution for 2025, known as the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, was passed by the House on March 11, 217-213. In the Senate on Friday, 10 Democrats voted 62-38 with most Republicans to invoke cloture and end debate. The Senate subsequently approved the bill, 54-46.
The resolution largely maintains funding levels from the previous year at $1.6 trillion total, with $893 billion for defense and $708 billion for nondefense. The measure removes earmarks for member-requested projects, known as Community Project Funding, and Congressionally Directed Spending and reduces IRS funding. These reductions offset increases elsewhere, such as the full funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, as requested by the administration, and increases to defense spending. The legislation aims to provide stability for critical services and programs while lawmakers continue to work on more permanent appropriations legislation via budget reconciliation and setting budgetary levels for fiscal years 2026-34.
House Committees Request Information About State Privacy Laws
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Vice Chairman John Joyce (R-Pa.) announced the creation of a data privacy working group in mid-February and have invited stakeholders to provide information by April 6 about the scope and impact of state privacy and artificial intelligence laws and whether federal preemption is necessary. State legislators and legislative staff are encouraged to share meaningful information with the privacy working group about their state laws, how they are protecting consumers and impacting industry, and any concerns with federal preemption. According to a committee press release, the working group is bringing members and stakeholders together to explore the parameters of a federal comprehensive data privacy and security framework.
NCSL wrote to the working group requesting the opportunity to participate as a stakeholder to share state lawmakers’ vast expertise in these areas. NCSL opposes federal preemption of state laws and plans to share its policy positions on privacy and AI with the working group. NCSL urges Congress to adopt a strong baseline of rights and safety protections while supporting states’ ability to adopt additional protections in their own laws to keep pace with and respond to rapid technological advances.
Senate Banking Committee Advances Stablecoin Legislation
The GENUIS Act (S 919) aims to establish a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, delineating roles for federal and state regulators. The legislation defines a stablecoin as a digital asset used for payment or settlement, pegged to a fixed monetary value, like the U.S. dollar. Under the legislation, a stablecoin issuer with total issuances of $10 billion or less may opt for state regulation but only if the state’s regulatory framework is substantially similar to the bill’s federal framework. If a state-regulated stablecoin issuer exceeds $10 billion in total issuances, it must transition to a dual state-federal oversight or stop issuing new stablecoins until it falls below the threshold, although in certain cases federal regulators can grant waivers permitting continued state oversight.
The bill’s new regulatory framework includes procedures for institutions seeking licenses to issue stablecoins, requirements on issuers for implementing reserves and segregation of those reserves, monthly certifications by issuers, as well as capital and liquidity requirements.
The bipartisan legislation received support from all committee Republicans and some Democrats. The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), strongly opposed the legislation and outlined her numerous concerns in a memo. These concerns include allowing the private sector to issue its own stablecoins, inadequate protections for consumers from losses they might incur and a lack of basic safeguards against money laundering and terrorist financing.
NCSL has not yet taken a position on the legislation and is closely reviewing it to determine next steps. NCSL has consistently and strongly advocated for state sovereignty in financial services regulation.
Administration Updates
USDA Cancels $1B in Grants for Local Food in Schools and Food Banks
The Department of Agriculture announced the cancellation of two grant programs to states for 2025. One of the programs provided $660 million to states to purchase minimally processed foods from local food producers to distribute to schools and child care providers. The other program provided $470 million to states to supply food banks with locally produced food. Read more
Administration Halts Affordable Housing Program
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has terminated $1 billion in funding allocated to renovation projects for affordable housing units at over 25,000 sites, according to The Associated Press. The Green and Resilient Retrofit Energy Program, whose webpage has been removed, plays an important role in preserving affordable units by funding updates and repairs to aging buildings, leveraging other funding for renovations, and by requiring that buildings improved with these funds remain affordable for up to 25 years. Recipients are now waiting for communication from HUD regarding whether the grants will be reinstated.
The termination comes on the heels of $60 million in canceled “Section 4” HUD contracts for two of the three organizations that distribute funding for small community development nonprofits, according to separate reporting by the AP.