Warner Weekly Wrap-Up: Begging for AI regulation

Happy Friday from the Warner press office! Well, Republicans have called Congress out of session until the election… after they did basically nothing to end this unpopular war, lower prices, or restore their horrific cuts to health care. Despite their inaction, Sen. Warner spent this final week of the Senate session working to get real guardrails around AI, rein in the out-of-control deployment of data centers, and improve customer service at the IRS.

Let’s get into it:

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts.

TAKING AI-CTION

Well, if you’ve been reading the WWWU for the last couple weeks, you’re probably already aware that Sen. Warner is firing on every cylinder trying to get something done on AI.

This isn’t a new initiative at all – for years, Sen. Warner has been raising the alarm about the urgent need to get guardrails around this novel technology, do something about data centers, and act to prevent severe job loss. The difference now is that the world has caught up, and everyone from AI CEOs to legislators on both sides of the aisle know that something needs to be done.

So following the introduction of SCORES of legislation over years, Sen. Warner continued to push ahead and force a vote on an urgent proposal that could start getting important safety measures in place.

As Sen. Warner always says, “You wouldn’t get on a plane if there hadn’t been some sort of independent safety check. Why are we deploying this incredibly powerful technology with no oversight?”

On Tuesday, he came to the Senate floor with two colleagues, Sen. Schatz (D-HI) and Sen. Kim (D-NJ), to force a vote on his Artificial Intelligence Risk Management and Security Act. You can catch all of their remarks here or just catch up on Sen. Warner’s remarks here.

This legislation would establish a permanent Artificial Intelligence Safety Board – composed of government agencies and independent technical experts – to evaluate AI risks and establish safety standards. Developers of frontier AI models would be required to provide the Board access to their models before public release… and require a range of other safety and transparency measures so there are real standards in place… not just a “we trust you” model.

You can read more about all of its provisions here.

Unfortunately, the bill was blocked by Sen. Cruz (R-TX), but Sen. Warner remains committed to making sure we get SOMETHING done on AI before disaster strikes.

DATA CENTERS

As Virginians know better than almost anyone else, data centers often come with a lot of downsides – and folks across the Commonwealth are routinely expressing that they want more action to rein in their rapid deployment.

Sen. Warner hears those voices loud and clear, so many months ago, he introduced a thoughtful and comprehensive piece of legislation that would be actionable, financially binding, and restore some transparency for communities across the country.

The Data Center Tax Accountability and Disclosure Act would require large AI data centers to publicly disclose key information about their energy and water consumption, emissions, backup generation, and other operational impacts – providing communities, local policymakers, and consumers with the information they need to understand and plan for these facilities.

The legislation would also reform the federal tax treatment of AI data centers by conditioning federal bonus depreciation, a valuable tax benefit, on meeting strong efficiency and sustainability standards. That’s an incredibly powerful – and actually enforceable – set of teeth for this legislation.

Unfortunately, Republicans are coming forward now with legislation that’s half-baked and toothless. This week, they brought up the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would give a two-year time frame for states to consider whether they would adopt a federal standard that would hold data centers accountable for rising electricity bills.

Two years?!?! Sen. Warner said it best,

“It’s a fig leaf.”

So Sen. Warner took to the Senate floor once again to lay out exactly why this a weak and toothless bill that passes the buck at the exact moment that Americans are crying out for real action. He championed his bill instead, which would take actionable and measurable steps to get something done.

You can watch his speech in full here:

Senate Republicans’ bill ended up failing because of its lack of enforceability. After this failure, Sen. Warner said,

“Across Virginia and across the country, communities near a data center are being saddled with high utility costs and serious concerns regarding the strain on local natural resources. Unfortunately, the Ratepayer Protection Act falls short because it lacks the enforceable requirements needed to actually protect families from bearing the costs of data center development.

“To actually get costs down, increase transparency, and get these data centers to use clean energy we need legislation with real teeth, real requirements, and real consequences.

“My Data Center Tax and Accountability Act would require data center builders to provide accurate information about power and water usage, have setbacks from our communities, bring their own power, and get rid of secret, non-disclosure agreements. Communities deserve to know what a data center will bring to their neighborhood and not be swindled by backroom deals. My bill would also condition valuable tax benefits on meeting clean energy standards.

“We have a chance to make a difference in the lives of American families and provide them some real relief. We cannot miss the mark on this one. Let’s work on putting some real requirements in place.”

Sen. Warner will keep fighting for the Senate to take up his bill instead.

IRS BY THE GOO GOO DOLLS

Winter is coming… and after winter comes spring and TAX SEASON! Sen. Warner is working proactively to ensure your taxes are as easy and pain-free as possible.

Earlier, he introduced his Improving IRS Customer Service Act, legislation which would take important steps to improve communication between the IRS and taxpayers, streamline tax compliance processes, and ensure taxpayers have timely access to expert assistance, among other much-needed tax administration reforms. More specifically, his legislation would:

Establish a dashboard to inform taxpayers of backlogs and wait times.
Expand electronic access to information about returns and refunds.
Expand callback technology.
Expand online accounts.
Inform individuals facing economic hardships of collection alternatives.

And the good news is on Wednesday, a bipartisan bill containing provisions from Sen. Warner’s bill passed the Senate! It now heads to the House of Representatives for passage!

After passage, Sen. Warner said,

“Provisions from my Improving IRS Customer Service Act will bring clarity and relief to taxpayers in Virginia and across the country. I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate for passing this crucial bill to make tax season a little bit easier for the millions of Americans who file taxes. I urge my colleagues in the House to pass this bill and send it to the president’s desk to become law.”

Sen. Warner will keep championing this bill until it becomes law, and he will continue working hard to ensure it’s as easy as possible to file your taxes.

GRAB BAG

FIGHTING FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Sen. Warner called on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Andrea Lucas to rescind their proposed rule to eliminate protections and strip federal employees of critical civil rights in discrimination complaints.

STRENGTHENING VETERAN MENTAL HEALTH: Sen. Warner announced $4,144,835 in federal funding to strengthen veteran suicide prevention efforts across Virginia.

STONKS: Sen. Warner released a statement on his vote on the Stop Insider Trading Act.

SI-LLY: Sen. Warner released a statement on Trump’s efforts to rename “AI” to “SI.”

FIGHTING FOR FILMS: Sen. Warner and a coalition of bipartisan lawmakers sponsored the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, legislation to create a federal film tax incentive.

PROTECTING PATIENTS: Sen. Warner reintroduced the Ensuring Accurate Payments to Specialty Pharmacies Act, bipartisan legislation to include specialty and mail-order pharmacies in federal drug acquisition cost surveys, improving the accuracy of prescription drug reimbursement data and rates, and bringing down costs for patients.

CELEBRATING CDFIs: Sens. Warner and Crapo (R-ID), co-chairs of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus, issued a statement after FY25 CDFI Funds were partially released.

GETTING WISE: Sen. Warner announced $529,133 in federal funding to help replace and improve a waterline in Wise County, ensuring residents have reliable access to clean, safe drinking water.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Sen. Warner is meeting with constituents across Virginia this weekend. The Senate will be in recess through the election.

###