State AI Policy Toolkit: The ALEC Guide to a Golden Age of Artificial Intelligence Innovation

by Jake Morabito, Jonathan Williams, Lee Schalk & Christian Whittle

Introduction

As our nation reflects on our upcoming Semiquincentennial, American innovation in the technology and telecommunications domain should be commemorated from coast to coast throughout the celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

To help policymakers navigate the balance between AI pessimism and utopianism, the American Legislative Exchange Council is proud to present our new research publication, the 2026 State AI Policy Toolkit. The Toolkit provides legislative leaders with trusted, proven, nonpartisan recommendations and policy solutions to seize the AI moment for their jurisdictions.

Produced by ALEC’s Center for Innovation and Technology, the Toolkit provides a quantitative and qualitative review of state and federal AI legislative activity from 2023-2025, as well as seven specific model public policies that any state legislator, business leader, or concerned citizen can pick up today to improve economic opportunity for your region, protect consumers and kids from proven risks and threats associated with AI, and remove obsolete or burdensome regulations impeding AI adoption and no longer serving state residents well in this moment of transition.

These model policies were developed and vetted by members of ALEC’s Communications and Technology Task Force, and many states across the country have already enacted or proposed similar legislation. All of the model policies contained within this publication are featured in ALEC’s Essential Policy Solutions for 2026, a compilation of ALEC’s leading ideas to help empower states and shape America’s future through principled policy. You will also find several state case studies throughout the Toolkit that supplement each model policy fact sheet.