The center-left technology policy group Chamber of Progress is laying out its policy priorities for Democrats, as the party prepares to take back control of the House and Senate next year.
In a memo sent Wednesday and first reported by The Hill, Chamber of Progress urges Democratic lawmakers to focus on consumer protection, economic opportunity and eliminating barriers to technology.
The memo, written by Koustubh K.J. Bagchi, the groups’ vice president of policy and government relations, was sent to Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate.
Recommendations include the passage of a national AI framework “combining public transparency, independent evaluation and enforceable safeguards” for advanced AI models.
Bagchi pointed to parts of New York’s RAISE Act, which requires large AI developers to publish their safety protocols and report safety incidents, along with California’s AI safety bill, S.B. 53. The latter bill established new transparency requirements for large AI labs, including mandated safety frameworks and transparency and safety incident reporting.
The memo also pointed to Illinois’s S.B. 315, which goes a step further than California and New York by mandating frontier labs with more than $500 million in revenue to submit third-party audits of their safety plans every year.
These bills were backed by AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic.
“Congress should require covered developers to publish safety frameworks, explain how they manage serious risks, report critical incidents, and protect whistleblowers,” Bagchi said. “Obligations should be proportional to risk and developer scale, with protections for sensitive information.”
This framework would build on Reps. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.)’s FRONITER Act, which would create tiered requirements for AI developers.
Despite lawmakers’ increased talk around AI safety, close to no regulations passed Congress the past two years.
Democrats, who won in seismic numbers Tuesday night, have signaled they plan to hammer Big Tech over their business structures, but also through strict guardrails on the technology’s development.
Chamber of Progress, which often backs so-called pro-innovation is also urging Democrats to put pressure on data centers to pay their own way, while ensuring faster approvals for the facilities that help power AI.
Democrats should also leverage fast-track approvals and federal funds for projects that are not dependent on local or state subsidies and ensure a return on investments, the group argued.
Data centers became a flash point in the midterms, stoking concerns over their impact on consumers’ utility bills and the environment.
Adam Kovacevich, the CEO and founder of Chamber of Progress, pushed back against suggestions the midterms were the “AI election” or “data center election” in a blog post Wednesday.
“The reality is that Democrats did well everywhere – not just where AI or data centers were an issue,” Kovacevich said. “Democratic governor candidates who did not support data center bans actually won at higher rates than those who did.”
Chamber of Progress is also focused on workforce and labor concerns around AI and recommended Democrats prioritize preparation for the workforce and educators.
“Democrats should help workers gain skills, enter careers, and maintain earnings as AI changes the labor markets,” Bagchi said.
The memo also touches on kids online safety, urging the passage of the Parents Over Platforms Act, which requires app stores to implement age-assurance processes. Age verification is heavily debated and has caused hurdles for other kids safety bills to pass Congress.
Other recommendations included action preventing predatory prices and reforming rideshare liability and insurance to prevent an increase in transportation costs.
“Congress should limit rideshare platforms’ vicarious liability based solely on connecting drivers and riders, while preserving liability for their own negligence or misconduct and existing insurance requirements,” Bagchi wrote.
