The Analog Revival Act of 2029

To strengthen human capability alongside advances in artificial intelligence through education, civic resilience, cultural preservation, economic opportunity, and individual agency.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Analog Revival Act of 2029.”

SECTION 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

It is the policy of the United States that technological innovation and human development are complementary national priorities.

Artificial intelligence, automation, and digital technologies shall continue to be encouraged where they improve economic opportunity, scientific advancement, public services, and quality of life.

The preservation of human capability, craftsmanship, civic participation, and tangible cultural experiences is likewise a matter of national importance.

This Act seeks to ensure that technological progress advances alongside—not in place of—human development.

SECTION 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings.—Congress finds the following:

(1) Technological progress, including artificial intelligence, has delivered extraordinary benefits to society and shall continue to be encouraged as a driver of innovation, economic growth, scientific advancement, and public welfare.

(2) Research across education, psychology, neuroscience, and occupational therapy indicates that handwriting, reading physical books, craftsmanship, repair, face-to-face collaboration, and other forms of tangible learning strengthen cognitive development, creativity, problem-solving, fine motor skills, and social development.

(3) Communities that preserve practical skills, cultural institutions, and opportunities for in-person participation are more resilient, economically adaptable, and socially connected.

(4) Individuals benefit from meaningful control over how digital technologies influence attention, learning, communication, and daily life through transparency, informed choice, and appropriate human oversight.

(5) Preserving analog experiences is not a rejection of technological progress, but an investment in human capability, civic resilience, and future generations.

(6) Congress recognizes that maintaining a healthy balance between technological innovation and enduring human capabilities serves the long-term interests of the Nation.

(7) Congress further finds that strong local communities remain essential to democratic participation, civic trust, and national resilience.

(b) Purposes.—The purposes of this Act are:

(1) To strengthen human capability through tactile education, practical skill development, and experiential learning.

(2) To expand public spaces dedicated to culture, craftsmanship, lifelong learning, and community participation.

(3) To support repair, restoration, preservation, and craftsmanship through targeted economic incentives.

(4) To promote transparency, meaningful human oversight, and individual choice within digital environments.

TITLE I—LEARNING & HUMAN CAPABILITY

SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) “Human Capability Development” means the development of human capability through sustained engagement in tangible learning, including handwriting, craftsmanship, repair, physical creation, practical skill development, and comparable experiential activities.

(2) “Covered digital platform” means a digital service as defined by regulation of the Federal Trade Commission, taking into consideration user scale, market significance, and public impact.

SEC. 102. HUMAN CAPABILITY GRANT PROGRAM.

(a) Education Grants.—The Secretary of Education shall establish a competitive grant program for K–12 public schools that integrate handwriting, reading physical books, laboratory work, drafting, woodworking, textiles, ceramics, gardening, music, mechanical repair, and other evidence-based experiential learning activities that complement digital education. Activities funded under this section shall complement—not replace—science, technology, engineering, mathematics, digital literacy, and artificial intelligence education. Priority shall be given to applications demonstrating sustained commitment to such programming and measurable student outcomes.

(b) University Innovation Pilot.—The Department of Education shall establish a five-year pilot program allowing accredited institutions to offer “Tangible Inquiry Projects” as alternative interdisciplinary capstones involving physical creation, restoration, scientific fieldwork, community service, or applied craftsmanship. Participating institutions shall submit annual evaluations to the Department.

SEC. 103. INTERGENERATIONAL SKILL CORPS.

The Secretary of Education shall establish a voluntary national mentorship program providing stipends to retired educators, tradespeople, artists, engineers, veterans, and skilled professionals who teach practical knowledge—including cooking, repair, gardening, craftsmanship, photography, music, and traditional trades—in schools, libraries, museums, and community organizations. Participation shall be voluntary. Priority shall be given to programs serving underserved communities and rural areas.

TITLE II—COMMUNITY RESILIENCE & PUBLIC CULTURE

SEC. 201. COMMUNITY LEARNING HUBS.

(a) Establishment.—Federal matching grants shall be available to states, Tribal governments, municipalities, libraries, schools, universities, faith-based organizations, and nonprofit organizations to establish or expand community spaces supporting reading, live music, lectures, repair workshops, makerspaces, tool libraries, board games, artistic creation, and civic dialogue. Such entities may partner with small businesses in carrying out these activities. Matching requirements shall be reduced for economically distressed communities.

(b) Emergency and Civic Function.—Community Learning Hubs may also serve as emergency gathering spaces and centers for civic engagement during natural disasters, public emergencies, infrastructure disruptions, or prolonged technology outages.

(c) Public Environment Grants.—Federal grants may support voluntary community initiatives that improve public gathering spaces, reduce excessive digital advertising and unnecessary visual clutter, preserve night skies, and encourage healthier public environments through locally determined planning. Grants shall prioritize projects with demonstrated community engagement and measurable health or environmental benefits.

SEC. 202. TANGIBLE HERITAGE PROGRAM.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services shall administer competitive grants supporting the preservation, restoration, public accessibility, and responsible digitization of books, photographs, recordings, film, manuscripts, historical artifacts, and other tangible cultural collections maintained by libraries, museums, archives, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Digitization efforts shall prioritize access while ensuring the long-term preservation of original physical materials.

TITLE III—THE TANGIBLE ECONOMY

SEC. 301. REPAIR & RESTORATION INCENTIVES.

(a) Tax Credits.—Small businesses primarily engaged in repair, restoration, maintenance, refurbishment, or conservation of consumer goods shall be eligible for targeted federal tax credits and technical assistance, subject to an annual cap and periodic congressional review under Section 503.

(b) Right-to-Repair Support.—Federal agencies shall strengthen implementation and enforcement of Right-to-Repair policies by promoting reasonable access to replacement parts, repair documentation, diagnostic tools, and service information consistent with consumer protection, safety, cybersecurity, and intellectual property law. The Federal Trade Commission shall issue advisory guidance to manufacturers within 18 months of enactment.

SEC. 302. TANGIBLE ENTERPRISE FUND.

The Small Business Administration shall establish a competitive loan and grant program supporting independent bookstores, repair businesses, artisan manufacturers, recording studios, tool libraries, musical instrument makers, conservation workshops, printmakers, community workshops, restoration specialists, and other enterprises whose primary mission involves tangible creation, preservation, education, or craftsmanship. Priority shall be given to businesses in areas with limited access to such services and to businesses owned by veterans, women, and minority entrepreneurs.

TITLE IV—HUMAN AGENCY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

SEC. 401. DIGITAL CHOICE & HUMAN REVIEW.

(a) Right to Request Disconnection.—Employees may request recurring periods of digital disconnection outside essential job responsibilities. Employers shall reasonably accommodate such requests unless doing so would create undue operational hardship or compromise public safety. No employee shall be subject to retaliation solely for exercising rights under this section in good faith.

(b) Human Review Requirement.—Federal agencies and federally funded educational institutions shall ensure that significant employment, admissions, financial aid, or disciplinary decisions are not based solely on automated systems and include meaningful human review, with documented explanation sufficient to permit administrative, judicial, or other lawful review, where applicable. Meaningful human review shall include independent consideration of the relevant facts and the authority to modify or overturn automated recommendations.

SEC. 402. USER CHOICE & PLATFORM TRANSPARENCY.

(a) User Controls.—The Federal Trade Commission shall establish regulations requiring covered digital platforms to provide users with meaningful and accessible controls over personalized content delivery, engagement features, and recommendation systems. Such controls may include, where reasonable and technically practicable, options to disable infinite scrolling, disable autoplay, select chronological or recommendation-based feeds, and manage engagement settings through a readily accessible interface.

(b) Reporting.—Covered platforms shall publish annual public reports summarizing the availability and use of these user controls, aggregated and anonymized. The FTC shall compile an annual report to Congress on platform compliance and user adoption.

(c) Effective Date.—Regulations under this section shall be finalized within 24 months of enactment and shall apply to all covered platforms 12 months thereafter.

TITLE V—IMPLEMENTATION

SEC. 501. APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary, not to exceed $18,000,000,000 over ten fiscal years, to carry out this Act.

Funds shall be distributed through competitive grants and existing federal programs in accordance with priorities established by the administering agencies.

SEC. 502. COMMISSION ON HUMAN CAPABILITY AND CIVIC RESILIENCE.

(a) Establishment.—A bipartisan Commission on Human Capability and Civic Resilience is established, consisting of 13 members appointed by the President, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. The President shall designate one member to serve as Chair. The Commission shall include not fewer than one member with demonstrated expertise in each of the following areas:

(1) Education.

(2) Technology.

(3) Economics.

(4) Psychology.

(5) Library and archival science.

(6) Small business ownership.

(b) Geographic Diversity.—In making appointments, consideration shall be given to geographic diversity and representation from urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities.

(c) Duties.—The Commission shall evaluate implementation of this Act and publish biennial reports measuring educational outcomes, practical skill development, repair economy growth, civic engagement, social connectedness, community resilience, and other indicators of human capability and societal well-being. The Commission shall also recommend legislative improvements based on evidence and independent research.

(d) Sunset.—The Commission shall terminate two years following the Congressional review under Section 503.

SEC. 503. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW AND REAUTHORIZATION.

Programs established under this Act shall be reviewed by Congress not later than ten years after enactment. Based upon demonstrated effectiveness, independent evaluation, fiscal responsibility, and recommendations of the Commission on Human Capability and Civic Resilience, Congress may reauthorize, amend, expand, or terminate individual programs established under this Act.

SEC. 504. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE EVALUATION.

The Comptroller General of the United States shall submit an independent evaluation to Congress prior to the review under Section 503.

SEC. 505. NON-PREEMPTION.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt, supersede, or limit any state or local law, regulation, or initiative that provides greater protections for analog experiences, human oversight, or user agency than provided under this Act.

SEC. 506. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

SEC. 507. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage or restrict the lawful research, development, deployment, or responsible adoption of artificial intelligence or other emerging technologies.

SEC. 508. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that preserving human capability, craftsmanship, civic participation, practical skills, and tangible cultural experiences should remain among the Nation’s priorities alongside continued technological advancement and scientific innovation.

SEC. 509. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act shall take effect on July 7, 2029.