ST. PAUL — Minnesota lawmakers put artificial intelligence under the microscope this Congress, debating a bill that would regulate its use in everything from medicine to nude technology.
The Senate Labor Committee on Thursday, March 26, took a closer look at the role of AI in the workplace and considered three bills that would regulate how employers use AI.
The most hotly debated bill, SF 4689, would essentially prohibit employers from relying solely on automated decision-making systems to make employment-related decisions such as hiring and firing. Employers also need to clearly and clearly inform employees how these systems are being used.
SF 4576 requires employers to notify employees and provide a 90-day transition period if at least 10% of their workforce is replaced by artificial intelligence. Another bill, SF 4686, would regulate the use of electronic monitoring devices by employers and require them to notify employees about their use.
Maddie Mullikin / Forum News Service
Aaron Rosenthal, research director at North Star Policy Action, testified that he supports all three bills.
“AI power is currently doubling approximately every seven months,” he said. “So if we waited until the next Congress to address this issue, these systems would be four times better than they are today.”
He said Minnesota’s workforce is particularly vulnerable because one in three workers in the state has a job with high rates of AI use. With many workers expressing concerns about AI in the workplace, he said, “If 80% of people are telling the government to regulate something, it should be regulated.”
Sen. Erin Mae Quaid, DFL-Apple Valley, authored all three bills.
May Quaid said SF 4689 would require humans to weigh in on decisions made by AI systems and would prohibit AI systems from considering unrelated personal information when making decisions.
“Imagine when we introduce a bill, an algorithm reads our bill and decides which committee to send it to,” she said. “We want the right to say, ‘Actually, that was a mistake…’ and correct that mistake. That’s essentially what this bill is about.”
Laurin Shothorst of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce expressed concern that the bill’s current language would limit workplaces’ ability to use essential technology tools to track worker productivity.
“These are broad and comprehensive definitions,” she said, suggesting a review of the language and content of all three bills. “It’s incredibly taxing.”
Maye Quade said SF 4689 does not prohibit the use of automated decision-making systems. The bill would regulate that and require notification.
Sen. Jason Rarick (R-Pine City) asked Mae Quaid further questions.
“Senator Mae Quaid, you say you don’t think it’s a burden, but have you looked into the NFIB and other organizations to see if they believe it’s a burden?” he said. “I think that’s part of the problem we have here. Too often we as legislators think we know the answer to something and then we don’t check with the people who are claiming this.”
May Quaid disagreed, saying MPs should be concerned about whether “minimum” regulations would be considered burdensome for employers.
“I think the bipartisan efforts in state legislatures across the country are evidence of the fact that we can no longer let Big Tech companies go unchecked like this,” she said, referring to privacy violations by Big Tech companies.
Rarick questioned why the bill targets Minnesota companies rather than technology companies.
Ms May Quaid agreed that this was desirable, but said there was a need to regulate the existing scheme by putting in place restrictions on how employers could use the scheme.
“It’s not that I don’t like AI. In fact, I think it has great potential and can be used to accomplish great things if used correctly,” she said. “However, consumer AI that does not protect consumers or workers is truly a five-fold alarm for our society and could have devastating consequences, especially when it comes to employment conditions.”
All three bills were referred back to the State and Local Government Committee.
Maddie Mullikin is Forum News Service’s legislative reporting intern for the 2026 session. She is a journalism and political science student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
