Across State Lines, Young Lawmakers Lead on Digital Policy

By Sarah Evans and Elizabeth Rosen

As technology continues to reshape daily life, young lawmakers across the country are stepping up to ensure the digital future is fair, safe and democratic. From artificial intelligence to consumer data privacy, a new generation of policymakers is leading the charge on cross-partisan digital policy reforms that reflect both innovation and accountability.

Since meeting at Future Summit 2023, Asm. Alex Bores, D-N.Y., and Del. Kayla Young, D-W.Va., have been deep in conversation about what AI means for their states — and what policymakers can do to shape it for good. Bores, who has a background in government tech, has long been motivated by the goal of making government more efficient and responsive to people’s needs.

“I kept trying to fix bad policy downstream with tech, and when the seat opened up, it became a chance to go upstream and actually design the right policies,” he said.

Young, who serves as minority leader pro tempore in the West Virginia House of Delegates, has also made AI a priority. After attending Future Summit, she helped create a legislative committee dedicated to the issue, believed to be the first of its kind in the country. That committee has since become a space for Young to explore big ideas and share them with trusted colleagues like Bores.

“AI policy piqued my interest at Future Summit last year, and I met Alex and started working on AI policy,” Young said. “I think we’re the first legislative committee on AI in the country, and it’s run by all millennials, all folks that are in our Future Caucus, which is awesome.”

Both lawmakers see the need for AI regulation as urgent and deeply connected to democratic resilience.

“The grand experiment of American democracy relies on, after the election, everyone coming together and working to advance things for our cities, our states and our country,” Bores said. “If we don’t have these bipartisan places where we can find the issues to work on together, that experiment’s at risk.”

Young echoed this sentiment, noting that the stakes are personal. “The future is at stake for me, but it’s really at stake for my children,” she said.

State Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Mont., has built a national reputation for pioneering privacy legislation that puts consumers first. A longtime digital privacy advocate, Zolnikov has led efforts to protect sensitive personal data, including the passage of a landmark genetic privacy law, restrictions on biometric surveillance and one of the nation’s most comprehensive consumer data privacy bills.

“We should be in charge of our information,” Zolnikov told the Montana Free Press in 2023, following the passage of SB 351, which establishes strong safeguards for Montanans’ genetic information, including data from consumer DNA testing services like 23andMe. “We should be able to decide who we share it with and who they share it with. And that’s it.”

Two weeks ago, Montana enacted Zolnikov’s latest bill, SB 297, which unanimously passed the House and Senate before reaching the governor’s desk. Among other provisions, the new law significantly enhances protections for minors online, prohibiting targeted ads and excessive data collection without consent. It also requires clearer, more accessible privacy notices, expands consumer rights around data access and profiling, and eliminates the previous 60-day window companies had to fix violations before facing penalties. With these changes, Montana now ranks among the nation’s leaders in state-level digital privacy reform.

At a recent meeting with fellow young lawmakers and Future Caucus staff, Zolnikov joined in a discussion about the need for state-level leadership in the absence of comprehensive federal regulation. The consensus: Bipartisan cooperation is essential to set standards that work for real people, not just tech platforms.

Within weeks of taking office in January 2025, State Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Utah, hit the ground running to spearhead HB 418, the Utah Digital Choice Act. The legislation, inspired by Fiefia’s years of experience in the technology sector, aims to return control over digital experiences to consumers by increasing transparency and reducing algorithmic manipulation by large tech companies. The law passed with bipartisan support and was signed by Gov. Cox on March 27, becoming a central part of Utah’s broader push to strengthen digital rights in the face of rapid technological change.

“To keep users engaged at all cost, big tech companies collect enormous amounts of data on us,” Fiefia said during a House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee meeting in February. “What we like, what we watch, who we interact with, and then use it to create algorithms that keep us hooked. That data is then sold to advertisers for billions of dollars. I quickly realized that we are not the customer — we are the product.”

As more lawmakers in the Future Caucus network turn their attention to digital governance, the path forward is clear: Collaboration, not division, will drive meaningful progress. Whether tackling AI, algorithmic transparency or data privacy, these young leaders are showing what’s possible when politics moves at the speed of trust.

In a moment when many Americans feel increasingly disillusioned by dysfunction, the digital policy efforts of young lawmakers across the country offer a hopeful blueprint. With humility, urgency and cross-partisan commitment, they’re building a future where technology serves democracy — not the other way around.