Spokane Says Yes — and 6 More U.S. AI-Policy Moves This Week
Spokane adopts its data-center moratorium 6-1 the day after last week's post; Vermont's data-broker law takes effect; Newsom issues the first AI workforce executive order from any U.S. governor; and the NYC GUARD Act is confirmed effective.
Last week's post listed Spokane as a 'vote advancing to June 22' — and the city delivered. The Spokane City Council voted 6-1 on June 22 to adopt an emergency one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data centers, making it the most recent city in an accelerating national wave. Meanwhile three other developments came together in the same window: Vermont signed its first post-2025 data-broker law, California Governor Newsom issued the country's first AI workforce executive order, and the New York City GUARD Act — long tracked as 'effective December 2025' — is confirmed on the books. Here are this week's seven developments.
-
MORATORIUM
1. Spokane adopted its data-center moratorium 6-1 on June 22
Spokane, WA · Effective June 22, 2026 — expires June 22, 2027The Spokane City Council approved a one-year emergency moratorium on new hyperscale data centers by a 6-1 vote, effective immediately on June 22, 2026. The ordinance targets facilities over a threshold wattage that would place outsized demands on city water and power infrastructure. The Council will use the one-year window to develop permanent zoning, utility-rate, and infrastructure standards. Approximately 5,000 constituent messages were sent in support ahead of the vote.
-
NEW LAW
2. Vermont signed H.211 — the first new data-broker law of 2026
Vermont · Enacted June 16, 2026Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed H.211 on June 16, 2026, tightening the state's existing data-broker registration and regulation regime. Vermont was the first state in the country to require data-broker registration and this update builds on that foundation. Data brokers supply the personal information that powers AI-driven profiling, credit scoring, and targeted advertising — so this law is directly relevant to how AI systems are trained and deployed.
-
MORATORIUM
3. Superior, Wisconsin unanimously banned new data centers the same week
Superior, WI · Effective June 16, 2026The Superior City Council passed a one-year data-center moratorium by unanimous vote on June 16, 2026 — the same day Vermont signed H.211. Superior's action was preemptive: no data center project had yet been proposed, but councilmembers cited the nearly $2 billion Google complex announced for nearby Hermantown, Minnesota as a signal that a proposal could arrive before the city had rules in place. The Council referred the matter to the Planning Commission to develop zoning, utility-rate, and infrastructure standards during the moratorium.
-
NEW LAW
4. NYC GUARD Act is confirmed effective — city workers have AI audit rights
New York City, NY · Effective December 26, 2025The New York City Governance of Automated and Related Decisions (GUARD) Act lapsed into law on December 26, 2025, after Mayor Adams did not sign or veto it within the 30-day window following City Council passage. The law gives city government employees the right to request human review of any automated decision affecting their employment, requires agencies to maintain inventories of automated systems, and mandates bias audits. This week's verification sweep confirms the law is on the books and the effective date has passed.
-
NEW LAW
5. California's first AI workforce executive order — Newsom directs WARN Act review and worker upskilling
California · Effective May 21, 2026Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-6-26 on May 21, 2026 — described by the Governor's office as the first AI workforce executive order from any U.S. governor. The order directs the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency to recommend revisions to the California WARN Act within 180 days to account for AI-driven mass layoffs, directs the Employment Development Department to develop an AI playbook for dislocated workers, and requires a review of how collective bargaining incorporates AI and new technologies by October 2026. No immediate employer mandates, but the order signals incoming regulation.
-
NEW LAW
6. Missouri's AI therapy chatbot ban takes effect August 28
Missouri · Enacted May 2026; effective August 28, 2026Missouri SB 1019 (2026) bans companies from marketing or advertising an AI chatbot as capable of providing mental-health therapy or posing as a licensed mental-health professional. Violations are treated as unlawful business practices under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, enforceable by the Attorney General with civil penalties of $10,000 for a first violation and $20,000 for each subsequent violation. The bill was truly agreed to and finally passed May 15, 2026, delivered to Governor Kehoe May 28, and takes effect August 28 under Missouri's standard effective-date rules.
-
PROPOSED
7. Washington's SB 5982 would close the data-center clean-energy loophole — awaiting governor's signature
Washington · Cleared both chambers; governor's action pendingWashington SB 5982 passed both chambers of the state Legislature and is awaiting Governor Bob Ferguson's signature. The bill closes a gap in Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) so that large electricity customers — including the hyperscale data centers powering AI infrastructure — must meet the same carbon-neutrality and renewable-energy deadlines as electric utilities. It also directs the Utilities and Transportation Commission to establish new reporting requirements so compliance can be tracked. Ferguson had not confirmed his action as of this publication.
The pattern this week is convergence: moratorium cities are getting more sophisticated (Spokane's ordinance specifically targets hyperscale facilities), workforce protection is moving from advocacy to executive action (Newsom's order), and existing civil-rights frameworks are getting AI-specific updates (NYC GUARD Act, Missouri's chatbot rule). The Vermont and Washington measures show states are now using their existing regulatory levers — data-broker law, clean-energy law — rather than waiting for new AI-specific statutes. That's a sign of policy maturity, and probably a preview of how most states will move in the second half of 2026.