ALEC’s 2026 Toolkit — Light-Touch Model Bills Before Federal Preemption

States write the compliance map companies ship against first; Washington debates export controls later. ALEC’s proprietary play is to flood that map with light-touch, pro-deployment model legislation before a federal preemption fight freezes the field.

American Legislative Exchange Council released the 2026 State AI Policy Toolkit (“The ALEC Guide to a Golden Age of Artificial Intelligence Innovation”) on February 25. Audience: state legislators and staff across 50 states. Framing: navigate between “AI pessimism and utopianism”; seize AI for state economies. Themes in ALEC materials and coverage: step-by-step leadership guidance; child protection; removing burdensome regulation; adaptable model-style recommendations. Format: research publication with downloadable PDF. Authors listed on the publication page include Jake Morabito, Jonathan Williams, Lee Schalk, Christian Whittle. ALEC has long supplied model state legislation; the toolkit extends that template into generative-AI governance fights that had been mostly federal and blue-state until 2025–2026.

Claims vs checks

Toolkit contents and framing are ALEC primary (publication + press release). How many chambers adopt language wholesale is an empirical question—not claimed here. Treat “Golden Age” rhetoric as advocacy packaging, not evidence of outcomes.

Limits

• Model bills are templates; enactment varies by chamber politics.
• “Protect children” and “cut burden” can pull in opposite drafting directions—read the PDF clauses, not the slogan.
• Toolkit is not a census of enacted 2026 state AI law.

Sources

• ALEC: “State AI Policy Toolkit: The ALEC Guide to a Golden Age of Artificial Intelligence Innovation” (published February 25, 2026). Primary publication + PDF.
• ALEC press release: “ALEC Releases One-of-a-Kind State AI Policy Toolkit” (February 25, 2026).