3/ We reviewed six proposals from 2025 and 2026 focused on AI and the workforce: - AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act - Workforce of the Future Act - AI Workforce PREPARE Act - AI Workforce Training Act - Investing in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act - Economy of the Future Commission Act

11/ These bills are still early steps in what will likely be a growing policy debate. Future AI x labor policy could focus on four things: filling the remaining gaps in visibility on AI’s effects on work improving existing worker support systems as a first line of defence designing flexible policies that can be adjusted as impacts become clearer planning for the possibility of highly disruptive scenarios

4/ - AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act: Mandates large employers to report AI-related layoffs, hiring, hiring freezes, and retraining; - Workforce of the Future Act: Funds AI-related education and worker training while requiring federal reports on AI’s workforce impacts;

2/ You can read the full analysis here: https://www.governance.ai/research-paper/how-congress-is-approaching-ais-labor-market-impacts

10/ The broader policy challenge is two-sided. Overreacting to speculative fears of mass displacement could waste resources. But underpreparing could leave workers without support if AI causes faster or broader disruption than expected.

9/ But the effectiveness of these bills remains uncertain: Will the attempts at improving visibility gather all the needed data to understand AI’s impacts? Can the bills’ measurement requirements be carried out reliably? E.g. Can firms accurately say whether a layoff was “because of AI” or which workers are likely to be displaced by AI? Can the proposed training and worker-support initiatives be scaled quickly enough if AI’s impacts are unprecedentedly fast or severe?

6/ - Investing in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act: Funds retraining pilots for workers affected by automation and expands WIOA through additional funding for the National Dislocated Worker Grant; - The Economy of the Future Commission Act: Creates a bipartisan commission modelled on Cyberspace Solarium Commission, to recommend AI and labor plus broader AI-economy legislation.

7/ Across these bills, two priorities stand out. First: better data. Lawmakers want more visibility into where AI is being adopted, which jobs are being affected, whether workers are being displaced, and how skill demands are changing. Second: worker training. Several bills fund, incentivize, or evaluate training programs meant to help workers adjust to changing skill demands. That includes grants, pilots, and employer tax credits.

8/ These are sensible starting points. Policymakers don’t yet know whether AI’s labor market effects will be modest, sector-specific, or highly disruptive. So it makes sense to begin with measurement, experimentation, and evaluation.

5/ - AI Workforce PREPARE Act: Aims to build federal capacity to measure, forecast, and respond to AI’s labor impacts through a variety of different policy tools; - AI Workforce Training Act: Creates an employer tax credit for AI training expenses;

12/ Read the full brief here for a summary of each bill and an analysis of open questions regarding their effectiveness. https://www.governance.ai/research-paper/how-congress-is-approaching-ais-labor-market-impacts