House speaker failed Florida’s parents by blocking AI Bill of Rights | Opinion
When Gov. Ron DeSantis called lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a special legislative session this week, he did so with a clear purpose: to ensure lawmakers pass his AI Bill of Rights in order to give families practical protections as artificial intelligence becomes a larger presence in children’s lives, classrooms and homes.
Instead, House Speaker Daniel Perez declined to take up the measure. This decision sets a substandard precedent for future attempts to enact AI legislation across the country in the future, one that plays right into the hands of Big Tech.
Parents deserve transparency about how powerful, emerging technology impacts their children, collecting their data and shaping their experiences online, and they will not stand for inaction by their elected leaders.
The AI Bill of Rights would establish baseline protections that most Florida families assume exist. Parents would have clearer authority over minors’ access to emotionally manipulative chatbot systems. Companies would be required to disclose when users are interacting with AI rather than a human. AI developers would face limits on deploying certain high-risk systems to children without guardrails. These are not extreme measures. They are simply basic steps to protect Floridians in the unpredictable AI era.
The Florida Senate recognized this and acted. The House, under Perez’s leadership, did not.
Perez has suggested that AI should be addressed by the federal government. In theory, a national framework could provide consistency. In practice, however, Congress has not delivered a viable one that actually addresses the real consequences of AI. Families cannot wait until Washington reaches consensus. States have historically been laboratories of democracy that routinely step in when new technologies move faster than federal policymaking, and they should continue to play that role.
It is also difficult to ignore the broader context surrounding the decision. Big Tech has strongly opposed state-level AI guardrails across the country. The White House, too — under the ill advisement of former AI czar David Sacks — has emphasized that one of its priorities is to preempt state AI laws and block states from legislating on AI. However, Big Tech’s bottom line should not outweigh the needs of Florida parents as they try to understand how AI is affecting their children’s daily lives. AI is advancing too quickly for them to sit around and wait for answers.
Special sessions are meant to produce substantive action and put constituents first. Perez declining even to consider the AI Bill of Rights sends the opposite message: that Floridians’ concerns are not a top priority.
Florida families are already navigating chatbot companions that simulate relationships and tools that collect their children’s private information. Parents deserve clarity about what protections exist for their kids, and if AI developers will be held accountable when things go sideways.
Lawmakers in Florida frequently say they want to keep parents in control. This was a window of opportunity to do exactly that, and they missed it.
Perez failed to lead this week, but he still has time to reconsider his decision. He must start a real discussion on the AI Bill of Rights and demonstrate that he and Florida’s leaders are willing to debate common sense guardrails, even when powerful, Silicon Valley voices — bankrolled to the tune of millions of dollars — attempt to obstruct the conversation and sway public opinion.
Congress may eventually act on AI in a way that gives parents the reassurance they need. But leadership at the state level has always been about responding to the needs of constituents in real time.
Florida families deserved that kind of leadership this week in Tallahassee. They still do.
Brendan Steinhauser is the CEO of The Alliance for Secure AI.