Throughout 2024, federal and state policymakers have worked to keep pace with rapid advancements in technology and communications. From artificial intelligence to privacy and broadband deployment, legislative and regulatory actions have profound implications for consumers, workers, patients, parents, business owners and the broader economy.
Efforts in next year’s legislative sessions are expected to focus on understanding the benefits and challenges of these technological advances, educating the public, and debating and enacting measures related to privacy, security, workforce opportunities and innovation.
Here’s a look at what might be in store for 2025.
NCSL Forecast ’25
This special report from State Legislatures News covers the topics NCSL’s policy experts anticipate will occupy state lawmakers’ time in 2025 legislative sessions. Read the full report here.
Hot Topic: Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence—the development of computer systems to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as learning and decision-making—has the potential to spur innovation and transform industry and government. As the technology advances, more products and services are coming onto the market, with companies using AI to run home security systems, smoke alarms and other appliances, and to help older adults remain in their homes longer. The benefits of AI are apparent in emerging health care technologies, self-driving cars, digital assistants and many other areas of daily life.
But this powerful technology comes with challenges. The technology raises issues of accuracy and bias, algorithmic discrimination and copyright and intellectual property infringement, to name a few. Few technologies have been as widely or quickly adopted as generative AI without a full understanding of the risks.
Another potential threat is the increasing use of realistic digital replicas and deepfakes, which use generative AI technology to create new audio, video, photographs, text and other content. The technology raises issues of employment displacement for performers, disinformation and misinformation, election campaigning, nonconsensual intimate images, consumer fraud and simulated child pornography.
ACTION: Thirty-one states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands adopted resolutions or enacted legislation in 2024 creating task forces or commissions to study and inventory state government use of AI and impacts on consumers. In 2025, this trend is expected to continue. Congress introduced many bills in 2024 to regulate AI, but none were enacted. In 2025, this trend is likely to change as pressure from various stakeholders to enact federal legislation increases.
NCSL Resources:
Hot Topic: Protecting Consumer Privacy
Comprehensive consumer privacy legislation generally regulates the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by businesses and provides an express set of consumer rights for collected data, such as the right to access, correct and delete personal information gathered by businesses. The rise of AI, which uses data to train its large language models, underscores questions regarding the protection of data.
ACTION: In 2024, seven states enacted comprehensive privacy legislation, bringing the number of states with such laws to 20: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Debates over these laws will continue in 2025 as the remaining states consider how to balance the interests of industry and the privacy concerns of consumers.
In 2024, Congress held several hearings on consumer privacy legislation, but the measure stalled. Lawmakers will likely try again in the coming year. Federal legislation, if enacted, could affect existing state laws and states’ ability to enforce privacy protections, including the potential to preempt state activity in this area.
NCSL Resources:
Hot Topic: Social Media and Children
The research on social media’s effect on the well-being of children and youth is mixed. Some studies show that social media use is linked to worsening mental health; others find that it has some positive influences. While federal and state policymakers weigh the pros and cons, the U.S. surgeon general recently called on Congress to issue a warning label, like those for tobacco and alcohol products, on social media platforms. The label would help to remind parents and youth that social media has not been proven safe to use.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are introducing measures to protect kids while using the internet and internet-based forms of communication, including social media. The various bills and resolutions would:
- Create study commissions and task forces.
- Establish age-appropriate design codes and require impact assessments.
- Require age verification or parental consent to open social media accounts.
- Add digital and media literacy courses or curriculum for K-12 students.
- Regulate the use of cellphones in schools.
Action: State legislatures enacted 30 laws in 2024 related to social media and children, though several are facing court challenges to determine their constitutionality. This may put action in the remaining states on hold as they await court decisions in 2025. The U.S. Senate approved comprehensive legislation addressing kids’ online safety and privacy in 2024, and the proposal has moved to the House. If Congress lets the clock runs out, legislation addressing children’s safety and privacy will likely be a top priority for policymakers in 2025.
NCSL Resources:
Hot Topic: Deploying Broadband
About 90% of American adults use the internet, and many consider it a necessity. But internet access remains unavailable or inadequate in parts of the country.
The Biden administration’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program provides $42.5 billion to help states and territories plan and deploy high-speed internet. As of December 2023, all eligible entities submitted their five-year BEAD plans to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees the program. Funding allocations for the states, Washington, D.C., and the territories, as well as the five-year plans, can be viewed at internetforall.gov. At least 40 states, American Samoa, Guam, Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands received NTIA’s approval on their initial proposals.
ACTION: In the 2024 legislative sessions, at least 40 states and territories considered or enacted legislation on broadband funding, governance authorities such as state broadband offices and commissions, educational institutions, infrastructure, municipal-run broadband networks, digital equity, rural and underserved communities, and taxes. These important efforts are likely to continue in 2025. At the federal level, all eyes will be on efforts to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program, which helped to subsidize high-speed internet for lower-income families. The program ran out of funding in 2024, and Congress will explore other means of providing funds in 2025.
NCSL Resources: