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Harris Van Pate is a policy analyst at Maine Policy Institute, a free-market think tank in Portland. He received his law degree from Florida State University’s College of Law.
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a budget reconciliation package — known as President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” — in the coming days.
Regardless of one’s feelings about the entirety of this plan, which could save the average Maine family more than $2,100 in federal taxes, it contains an important provision on state-level artificial intelligence (AI) policy that has real potential to benefit Maine small businesses and improve our nation’s competitiveness as a whole.
Specifically, the reconciliation bill would bar any state and its political subdivisions from enforcing new laws or rules that explicitly target AI. The prohibition would exist for 10 years after the bill becomes law, allowing time for Congress to consider next steps on regulating AI while protecting businesses and organizations across the country from having to navigate a patchwork of AI regulations from state to state.
This is noteworthy for a place like Maine with a small business-driven economy. When states take action to clamp down on emerging technologies like AI, the ones who lose are often small businesses who can’t afford the costs associated with regulatory compliance. Regulation often shifts the playing field in favor of large companies with deeper pockets that can better navigate multi-state regulatory landscapes.
Unfortunately, we’re already starting to see Maine lawmakers dip their toes into these waters.
This session, Sen. Mike Tipping proposed LD 1552, a bill that sought to prohibit the use of AI by landlords in setting rents.
This proposal sought to stop landlords from using an “algorithmic device” or “artificial intelligence” in setting the amount of rent to be paid by their tenants. The bill defined algorithmic device as something that “uses one or more algorithms to perform calculations of data,” and defined AI as an “engineered or machine-based system … that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments.”
As Maine Policy noted in our testimony in opposition to LD 1552, the vague and far-reaching definition of “algorithmic device” could have prohibited landlords from using calculators, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, or Zillow’s rent estimate widget in setting rents.
The bill’s definition of AI could have applied to conditional Microsoft Excel formulas, financial calculators or property management software that suggests rent costs based on the Consumer Price Index. The bill could have even banned using the auto-generated response from the AI Overview when searching “What should I charge for rent in Maine?” on Google.
Had the bill passed, ask yourself who it likely would’ve hurt most: the small landlord who seeks guidance to accurately list their one rental property, or the multi-state landlord who owns and rents out hundreds of units?
The problem of zealous AI regulation isn’t confined to just Maine, either. According to the Abundance Institute, more than 1,000 AI-related bills were introduced in state legislatures across the country in 2025 alone.
This rush on state-level anti-AI regulations highlights why I believe a temporary moratorium is necessary, and sound public policy. Congress needs time and space to craft a federal solution that works for everyone and protects interstate commerce.
Fifty states with 50 different AI policies serves to benefit incumbent firms with the large legal budgets necessary to navigate this messy regulatory environment. The loser in this scenario is small startups just getting off the ground and trying to compete with the big guys.
That’s why Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King should ultimately support the 10-year state-level AI moratorium in the reconciliation bill. The moratorium protects the interests of Maine small businesses. Failure to do so would amount to economic protectionism, stifling nationwide innovation.
