Roundups on state-level tech and work legislation [July-October 2025]
Updates from the University of California Berkeley Labor Center Technology and Work program
Happy Monday all!
With most state legislative sessions now over –- here is our latest installment of state-level policy updates. We define “significant updates” as bills from across the U.S. that have passed, been vetoed or signed, made significant progress, or been newly introduced.
We are also excited to share our recent article published by Tech Policy Press, co-authored by myself and Annette Bernhardt. The piece examines broad trends from the 2025 state legislative session, drawing on analysis from our newly updated policy guide, and offers insights into emerging legislative priorities for the year ahead.
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, as well as an archive of earlier roundups (covering both policy and research updates).
Roundup on state-level legislation [July - October 2025]
The California Federation of Labor Union’s No Robo Bosses Act (SB 7), which would have placed guardrails around employers’ use of algorithms to manage workers, was passed by the California legislature. The bill, supported by the national labor movement and over 100 academics, was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom.
California Governor Newsom signed several labor-related bills into law: AB 1340 will grant transport network company (TNC) drivers collective bargaining rights; AB 489 will prohibit companies from advertising their products using terms reserved for licensed medical professionals; SB 524 will mandate human review or disclosure of reports generated by AI in the law enforcement context; SB 53 will provide whistleblower protections to workers at companies developing frontier AI models. Another bill, AB 682 which would have strengthened reporting requirements when healthcare providers use AI to make insurance benefit decisions, was vetoed by the governor.
At the city level, Long Beach California passed a first-in-nation ordinance that would limit the number of checkout counters that can be in use in retail stores.
Illinois enacted two laws prohibiting the use of AI to replace workers: community college faculty (HB 1859) and licensed mental health therapists (the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act).
Ohio enacted HB 96 making it the first state to require school districts to adopt AI usage policies. The state’s Department of Education and Workforce will develop a model policy on the use of AI in schools.
New bills introduced
New York, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and Ohio introduced bills that would prohibit the use of AI to replace mental health professionals.
The New York legislature introduced AB 8917, which would prohibit the surveillance of workers while off-duty and A 9097, which would mandate human review when Generative AI is used in the production of legal documents.
Pennsylvania introduced the Job Automation Disclosure Act, which would require businesses to provide real-time notice to state agencies when jobs are eliminated due to automation or AI. Lawmakers also introduced HB 1857 requiring businesses to make a human representative available when using generative AI to communicate with the public, and HB 1925 which would regulate the use of AI by healthcare providers and insurers –- including requiring physicians to make any final adverse health benefit decisions.
Michigan introduced HB 4668, which includes whistleblower protections for employees of companies developing frontier AI models.
Massachusetts introduced HB 4287, which would prohibit the use of algorithms to discriminate against workers.
Florida introduced SB 202 which would ensure physicians will not rely solely on AI to make adverse medical health benefit decisions.