by the Missouri House Futures Caucus
The chair and members of the Future Caucus gathered at Lindenwood University in St. Charles City, MO to announce plans to introduce new legislation. The legislation will be introduced during the next session of the General Assembly and it will work to empower and protect Missouri communities as they engage the AI economy.
Additionally, the Future Caucus released the AI Community Evaluation Framework to help Missouri communities now as they work to find footing and advantage while assessing the AI economy and the infrastructure demand that comes with it.
“The legislation I have introduced to date, along with the framework we are releasing today, is designed to empower Missouri communities. I intend to continue supporting these efforts next year,” emphasized Rep. Colin Wellenkamp, chair of the Missouri House Future Caucus. “I fully support my city’s decision to prohibit hyperscale facilities. It is clear Missouri communities want assistance in evaluating for themselves how to engage the AI economy and that is exactly what we are doing with legislation and this framework to protect our resources and neighborhoods. It is my priority to help localities interface with AI companies and stakeholders from a position of strength.”
“Legislation generally lags far behind technology. As we grapple with uncertainty around the AI Revolution, we no longer have that luxury. We must place reasonable safeguards around Missouri’s natural resources and power grids to ensure they remain healthy and available today and in to the future,” explained Rep. Mike Costlow of St. Charles County.
“Safeguarding Missourians from disruptive AI is key to maximizing opportunities and benefits that can be part of the new AI economy. The legislation I introduced last session and plan to pursue in the next General Assembly works to protect Missourians from the risks of AI while allowing the AI economy to develop,” said Rep. Scott Miller of St. Charles County.
“There are benefits we can capture from the AI economy as long as the public interest is protected. There must be guardrails in place to ensure Missourians are insulated from resource depletion, harmful impacts, and increased costs. AI infrastructure can be organized in our state without passing costs onto Missouri communities. That effort begins and ends with empowering Missouri communities with resources that help localities better control their own destiny,” explained Rep. Kimberly Ann Collins of St. Louis City.
The AI Infrastructure Community Evaluation Framework (AICEF) has been assembled to take Missouri communities through a structure of considerations and inquiry important to engaging AI infrastructure developments. The AICEF can be downloaded at the below link.
AICF Link: https://www.lindenwood.edu/files/future-caucus/
Speaker of the House Jonathan Patterson formed the Future Caucus of the 103rd General Assembly and selected State Representative Colin Wellenkamp to chair. The newly formed Future Caucus is intended to seek out and determine issues and challenges persistently impacting the State of Missouri. The Caucus evaluates and intakes issues as they are developing in order to build additional policy-setting capacity for the House legislative process.
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