# Obernolte and Trahan Unveil the Great American Artificial Intelligence Act — 269-Page Bipartisan Discussion Draft Would Preempt State AI Model-Development Laws for Three Years, Force $500M+ Labs Into Semi-Annual Third-Party Audits, and Impose $1M/Day Fines With CAISI as the Standards Hub

> Bipartisan 269-page draft would preempt state AI laws for three years and force the biggest labs into mandatory federal safety audits.

- Org: U.S. House
- Date: 2026-06-04
- Category: ecosystem, security
- Source: https://rollcall.com/2026/06/04/bipartisan-ai-draft-proposes-three-year-preemption-of-state-laws/
- Canonical page: https://ai-tldr.dev/releases/obernolte-trahan-great-american-ai-act/

## In short

Reps. Obernolte (R) and Trahan (D), with four bipartisan co-sponsors, drop a 269-page draft federal AI framework. It preempts state model-development laws for three years, mandates safety frameworks and semi-annual audits for $500M+ labs, and carries $1M/day penalties.

## What it is

The Great American Artificial Intelligence Act is a discussion-draft bill released by Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) on June 4, 2026, with co-sponsors Suhas Subramanyam (D), Scott Franklin (R), Scott Peters (D), and Erin Houchin (R). The 269-page text is Congress's most substantive attempt yet at a federal framework specifically governing frontier-model development.

## How it works

Developers above $500M in annual revenue would publish safety frameworks addressing catastrophic risks, report critical safety incidents within 15 days and imminent risks within 24 hours, and submit to semi-annual audits by NIST-licensed Independent Verification Organizations. Non-compliance carries fines up to $1M per day. The bill codifies the Commerce Department's Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), preempts state AI model-development laws for three years while preserving state rules on AI use and deployment, and extends the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act through fiscal 2035.

## Why it matters

It arrives two days after President Trump's voluntary pre-release-sharing executive order and sets up a direct fight with Colorado's AI Act (live June 30, 2026), Illinois SB 315, and California's safety bills. AFL-CIO and the Alliance for Secure AI publicly opposed the preemption clause within hours of the release, signaling that the labor and AI-safety coalitions will lobby against the federal-floor model.

## Who it's for

frontier-lab policy and compliance teams, US AI startups, state AI regulators

## Try it

Read the discussion-draft PDF on Rep. Obernolte's site and email feedback to the sponsors.

## Links

- [Roll Call Coverage](https://rollcall.com/2026/06/04/bipartisan-ai-draft-proposes-three-year-preemption-of-state-laws/)
- [Obernolte Press Release](https://obernolte.house.gov/media/press-releases/obernolte-trahan-release-discussion-draft-great-american-ai-act)
- [Trahan Press Release](https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3783)
- [Bill Discussion Draft PDF](https://obernolte.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/obernolte.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/the-great-american-ai-act-discussion-draft-website-compressed-compressed.pdf)
- [Nextgov Analysis](https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2026/06/lawmakers-propose-ai-framework-would-preempt-state-laws-3-years/413975/)