HB 1622 would have required public employers to bargain over the business decision to adopt artificial intelligence tools. The bill was reintroduced this year after failing to advance in the 2025 session. AWC joined a coalition of other public sector employers and tech companies in opposition. The bill ultimately failed to advance out of the House and is considered dead for this session.

AI bargaining bill awaits a floor vote—voice your concerns

February 6, 2026

The bill requiring bargaining over the decision to adopt AI technology awaits a vote on the House floor after being revived by the Appropriations Committee. We do not know if or when HB 1622 will move out of the Rules Committee for a floor vote, but it must do so before 5 pm on February 17 to continue its legislative journey. Now is the time to reach out to your House members to voice your concerns and share how this bill will impact your city.

Here are a few points you may want to focus on when speaking to legislators:

• HB 1622 undermines city leaders’ rights to make business decisions about adopting AI technology. Unions should not get to dictate what technology tools city leaders decide are best for serving their community.
• HB 1622 will delay or prevent the adoption of new cost-saving tools that increase efficiency and save taxpayers money. Recent AWC research shows there are far fewer city workers relative to city residents than 20 years ago. Cities are not looking to replace their hardworking workforces, but to merely augment the existing workforce to improve efficiency and customer service.
• Employees can still be engaged in implementation of AI without this bill. People are understandably concerned about the long-term impacts of AI. Cities are open to a requirement to provide notice and consultation with impacted employees—outside the collective bargaining process—when considering adopting generative AI tools. In addition, the collective bargaining process continues to require bargaining over impacts of AI technology.
• It would be needlessly expensive and time-consuming to bargain over the decision to use every tool that incorporates AI since AI is increasingly incorporated into many tools cities use.
• Whether or not HB 1622 passes, unions have their interests protected by the existing bargaining process. If the bill passes, cities will not. Cities are already required to bargain over impacts to wages, hours, and working conditions that come from a decision to use any tool, including AI technology. This bill only encroaches on city leaders’ rights to make business decisions about their city.
• This would be the first time that a business decision by elected city leaders is made subject to bargaining. This directly negatively impacts elected leaders’ ability to respond to the needs of their community.

AI bargaining bill gets do-over in the House

January 30, 2026

HB 1622, which requires public employers to bargain over the business decision to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools, passed out of the House Appropriations Committee again with an amendment ahead of the policy cutoff. The bill died in the Senate last session and per the legislative process was sent back to its last committee in its house of origin. The bill wasn’t subject to a new committee hearing but instead was just voted on by the committee to restart the process. The committee readopted the amendment they had adopted last session.

The amendment does the following:

• Changes the definition of “artificial intelligence”;
• Allows updates made by a technology company that modifies the AI technology a public or private entity already utilizes without bargaining regardless of wage or performance evaluation impacts; and
• Updates the null and void clause to 2026.

AI is now defined in the bill as “an engineered or machine-based system that can, for a given set of objectives, generate outputs such as predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence systems can be designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy.”

The bill now goes to the full House for a revote. AWC continues to oppose this bill as a significant change to management rights by requiring bargaining the management decision to use AI-related technologies. Public employers are already required to bargain the impacts of such decisions when it impacts wages, hours, or working conditions.

Action needed: 2025 AI bargaining bill revived and scheduled for committee vote

January 23, 2026

AWC has already covered cities’ concerns regarding HB 1622, a bill that would require cities and other public employers to bargain over the business decision to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The bill died in committee last session by failing to advance out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee. The bill’s purpose is akin to HB 2144, which requires employers to provide notice if using electronic means to monitor employers for the purpose of performance evaluation.

AWC continues to oppose HB 1622 as part of a coalition of public employers concerned about the bill’s degradation of management rights and the power of city leaders to make business decisions about the tools used in their city.

The bill is back in the House and scheduled for executive action on January 28 in the House Appropriations Committee with no amendments filed at this time.

Your voices were heard last year and are needed again. Please reach out to your local members of the House Appropriations Committee before the January 28 vote to express your continued concerns on this bill. Make sure to mention the following talking points:

• HB 1622 undermines city leaders’ rights to make business decisions about adopting AI technology. Unions should not get to dictate what technology tools city leaders decide are best for serving their community.
• HB 1622 will delay or prevent the adoption of new cost-saving tools that increase efficiency and save taxpayers money. Recent AWC research shows there are far fewer city workers relative to city residents than 20 years ago. Cities are not looking to replace their hardworking workforces, but to merely augment the existing workforce to improve efficiency and customer service.
• Employees can still be engaged in implementation of AI without this bill. People are understandably concerned about the long-term impacts of AI. Cities are open to a requirement to provide notice and consultation with impacted employees—outside the collective bargaining process—when considering adopting generative AI tools.
• It would be needlessly expensive and time consuming to bargain over the decision to use every tool that incorporates AI since AI is increasingly incorporated into many tools cities use.
• Whether or not HB 1622 passes, unions have their interests protected by the existing bargaining process. If the bill passes, cities will not. Cities are already required to bargain over impacts to wages, hours, and working conditions that come from a decision to use any tool, including AI technology. This bill only encroaches on city leaders’ rights to make business decisions about their city.
• This would be the first time that a business decision by elected city leaders is made subject to bargaining. What other business decisions will be next?

Dates to remember

HB 1622 is scheduled for executive action in the House Appropriations Committee on January 28 at 4 pm.