Ohio Senate considers bill to form Frontier Technologies and Quantum Commission

Earlier this month, the Ohio House unanimously passed House Bill 650, legislation aimed at creating a bipartisan commission to study the rapid rise of emerging technologies, like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and robotics, and their impacts on the state’s economy, security and workforce.

The proposed body, called the Frontier Technologies and Quantum Commission, would include members of both the House and Senate and gather input from experts to analyze trends and policy implications. Under the bill, the commission would deliver recommendations to the General Assembly by the end of 2026, helping guide future legislation.

State Rep. Heidi Workman, who sponsored the legislation, framed the effort as a way for the state to stay competitive and respond responsibly to what she described as a major technological shift.

The measure now heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

“We all feel this tectonic shift. Innovation races ahead, rewriting workplaces, economies, and security in months, not decades. Together, these forces represent one of the most significant technological transformations in modern history,” Workman said of the bill in a statement earlier this month. “This is about preparedness, competitiveness, and responsible leadership in a moment that demands all three.”

If the legislation passes, Ohio will become the latest state to establish a dedicated task force or initiative to study quantum computing technology in recent years, a field which uses the principles of quantum mechanics to solve complex problems too difficult for traditional computers.

Last year, Microsoft announced plans to open a new quantum research center at the University of Maryland’s Discovery District in College Park, hoping to bring together government agencies, researchers, and private companies to advance the technology from theory to more practical applications.

California, home to multiple quantum research centers, launched “Quantum California,” an initiative focused on growing the quantum economy through state-wide partnerships. The Texas Quantum Initiative, established under HB 4571, created a six-member advisory committee tasked with developing a strategic plan for promoting the quantum economy.

New Mexico partnered with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Defense Department’s research and development agency, to advance quantum computing technology.

“Anticipatory governance”

Mauritz Kop, founder of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology, said emerging fields like quantum computing are advancing faster than traditional legislative cycles, creating a widening gap between innovation and regulation.

The 2023 report, “10 Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation,” which Kop co-authored, urges governments and tech developers to implement safety, fairness and accountability guardrails from the start—not after problems arise. The framework calls for stronger cybersecurity to prepare for future threats, safeguards against misuse of dual-use technologies, and international cooperation to avoid a global “arms race.”

Kop said the Ohio commission, and others like it, represent an important step toward “anticipatory governance,” particularly in addressing the security and economic risks tied to quantum computing, such as “harvest now, decrypt later” cyber threats, which could expose sensitive government and citizen data unless states begin transitioning to post-quantum cryptography.

“The state commissions really function as an essential laboratory for anticipatory governance,” Kop told StateScoop in an interview this week. “Advancement of Frontier technologies always outpaces federal legislative cycles, and this creates a vulnerability gap, like a governance tipping point, after which it will be too late to clean up later.”

While the dedicated commission will help Ohio policymakers embed democratic values into technology policy before industry standards become entrenched, Kop also acknowledged that individual state ambitions for adopting quantum computing could only go so far without a robust data-sharing infrastructure between states.

“PQC [Post-Quantum Cryptography] migration is really a country wide effort,” Kop explained. “If they can, states should prioritize the data migration and make everything future proof and that there’s not too much fragmentation.”

He also emphasized the necessity for a federal framework to better support these state-level initiatives and ensure the U.S. remains competitive in the global race for frontier technologies.

“If you embed your ethics in a smart way into your federal or state level regulations, it will actually foster and propel responsible innovation,” Kop said.