Roundups on state-level tech and work legislation [March-mid July]

Updates from the University of California Berkeley Labor Center Technology and Work program.

[Editor’s note: We are introducing a new feature here at Hard Reset. Mishal Khan of the UC Berkeley Labor Center researches how policymakers and legislators are responding to AI advancements, and we’ve invited her to share in a roundup every so often. Let us know what you think in the comments, and feel free to follow up with questions in the Substack subscriber chat.]

Hi there! My name is Mishal Khan and I am a sociologist and senior researcher at the Technology and Work Program at the University of California Berkeley Labor Center. We provide worker organizations and policymakers with the research, policy analysis, and training they need in order to respond to rapid technological change in the workplace. 

Part of what I do here at the Labor Center is track public policy developments — specifically, proposed or enacted legislation that regulates AI and other digital technologies and that impacts workers. There has been a tsunami of activity over the last few years, especially at the state level in 2025. 

Every few months we put out a roundup of some of the key developments we have been seeing. Below you will find our most recent roundup of significant updates on state-level bills that we published in mid-July. We define “significant updates” as bills that have passed, been vetoed or signed, made significant progress, or been newly introduced. 

There’s a lot more! Our full policy roundups on tech and work include: federal, international, and more state level updates as well as updates from labor. We also have an archive of earlier roundups (covering both policy and research updates). Please also see our policy guide where we share a broader overview of key tech and work policy concepts.

Significant updates 

Automation. The Illinois legislature passed two bills prohibiting the use of AI to replace community college faculty (HB 1859) and licensed mental health professionals (HB 1806). (Note: since we published this roundup Illinois Governor Pritzker has signed the mental health bill into law). 

Oregon enacted a law (HB 2748) prohibiting non-human entities (AI) from using professional titles reserved for licensed nursing professionals. 

Governor Joe Lombardo in Nevada signed AB 406 which prohibits schools from using AI to perform mental health support or counseling functions.  

The Colorado legislature passed HB 25-1122 which would have required a human driver to be present in any commercial autonomous vehicles operating in the state. The bill was vetoed by Governor Jared Polis. 

Colorado enacted SB 240 establishing a task force to investigate the impacts of using electronic discovery in the criminal justice arena, including the impacts of using automated transcription services. 

Florida enacted HB 827, which would create a workforce automation task force. 

Human-in-the-loop. A number of states have enacted laws establishing human-in-the-loop requirements. A handful of states now require physician review when an Automated Decision System (ADS) is used to make adverse healthcare benefit decisions (e.g. Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Nebraska, and Texas). 

Other states now require human review when an ADS or AI is used in critical infrastructure (Nevada), criminal justice (Virginia and Utah, and medical diagnostic settings (Texas). 

Public sector. A number of states signed public sector bills into law establishing requirements for government agencies using AI.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed several bills in this area including: creating AI training requirements for state workers (HB 3512), developing an AI Code of Ethics that includes human review requirements (SB 1964), and encouraging the adoption of Generative AI across state agencies (HB 2818). 

Some laws require agencies to publish inventories of AI systems in use in specific branches such as law enforcement (Virginia), while others call for inventories of AI systems used across agencies (e.g. West Virginia). 

Other laws create disclosure and/or human review (e.g. Montana and Kentucky) requirements when state agencies use AI. 

Sector-specific standards. New Mexico enacted HB 178, which charges the State Board of Nursing with promulgating rules establishing standards around the use of AI in nursing. 

Illinois lawmakers passed SB 1920, which charges the State Board of Education with developing guidance around the use of AI in elementary and secondary education (currently awaiting the Governor’s signature).  

Other. The California Federation of Labor Union’s No Robo Bosses Act (SB 7) and AB 1331, which limits an employer’s ability to monitor workers outside of work, have both passed in their originating houses. 

In Colorado, a 2025 bill (SB 25-318) that would have potentially weakened the 2024 Colorado AI Act (SB 24-205) failed to pass (see recommendations from the State AI Task Force and coverage on the bill). 

New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation as part of the state budget to require businesses to disclose when a price is set using consumer personal data. 

In New York the legislature passed A.8887-B requiring disclosure of the use of synthetic performers in advertising (with support from SAG-AFTRA).

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed A 5466 directing the Board of Public Utilities to study the impacts of data centers on electricity costs. 

Maine enacted LD 109 directing the Maine Arts Commission to study federal and national efforts to protect artists from copyright infringement. 

New bills introduced 

New York Senator Patricia Fahey introduced SB 8451 that would provide a variety of landmark protections for news media workers. These include: disclosing any intended use of Generative AI to workers, ensuring workers maintain oversight over deployed AI systems, and disclosing, consulting, and potentially bargaining with workers before using their work product to train a Generative AI system (for commentary on the bill see this piece by Brian Merchant).  

New York Senator Kristen Gonzalez introduced SB 8331, which would require developers of Generative AI systems to disclose detailed descriptions of any journalistic content used in the development of the system. 

California Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks introduced AB 1340, which would give transport network company workers collective bargaining rights.

California Senator Padilla introduced SB 57, which would provide incentives for the sustainable construction of data centers.  

Lawmakers in New Jersey introduced AB 5540 that would establish a grant program for nonprofit entities providing training and education in AI.

New Jersey lawmakers also introduced AB 5892 directing the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to conduct an evaluation of the water use impacts of data centers. 

Lawmakers in Wisconsin introduced two bills that would allow the use of AI in translation services in civil or criminal proceedings (SB 295) and in state government (SB 357).