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

Times of AI Desk · 2026-02-25 · Policy

[https://timesof.ai/2026/02/alec-state-ai-policy-toolkit-2026](https://timesof.ai/2026/02/alec-state-ai-policy-toolkit-2026)

> ALEC published a State AI Policy Toolkit (Feb 25): model recommendations for state lawmakers to promote AI adoption, protect children, and cut regulatory burden—a free-market counterweight as state AI bills accelerate and Washington debates preemption of a 50-state patchwork.

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).