Vermont lawmakers are scheduled to examine how state government is approaching advanced artificial intelligence tools Wednesday, pairing that discussion with a review of a major back-office technology modernization project. The Joint Information Technology Oversight Committee’s published agenda sets aside morning sessions for government AI access, emerging policy questions and a briefing on Project Glasswing, followed by an afternoon update on the state’s Workday-based enterprise resource planning effort and its technology procurement process.
The meeting is an oversight session, not a vote on a specific AI deployment. Its structure nevertheless places two practical questions before lawmakers: what tools state agencies should be able to use, and what controls should govern their adoption. The committee is also expected to hear from Vermont’s secretaries of Digital Services and Administration, outside policy specialists and legislative counsel. The public stream gives Vermonters a way to follow the testimony as it occurs. The afternoon schedule also calls for a procurement walkthrough, allowing lawmakers to examine not just technology choices but how contracts, cost controls and oversight responsibilities are structured before agencies commit public funds.
Vermont already has a statutory framework for this work. Under state law, the Division of Artificial Intelligence must review AI systems developed, used or purchased by state government. The law directs the division to consider risks to residents’ rights, privacy, finances and livelihoods, maintain an inventory of automated decision systems and recommend policies on bias testing, security and employee training. The accompanying advisory council is also charged with public outreach and guidance to the division. Annual reporting requirements give the Legislature a recurring mechanism to compare actual state use with the risks and safeguards officials have identified.
The Agency of Digital Services describes its approach as one of oversight and enablement. Its AI program includes an automated-systems inventory, employee guidance and a state code of ethics. That ethics code says government AI should preserve individual rights, remain transparent, improve public services and avoid uses that erode trust. Those standards give lawmakers a benchmark for asking whether access to more capable systems is matched by documented human review, security controls and accountability.
The state is also widening the discussion beyond internal government operations. Governor Phil Scott’s economic taskforce is developing an AI-readiness framework, a community resilience toolkit and recommendations for workforce and investment policy. Its separate economic mission does not replace the statutory government-oversight system, but it raises the stakes for coordination: decisions about state use, workforce preparation and economic development increasingly intersect.
Wednesday’s hearing should therefore be read as a checkpoint, not a completed policy decision. The consequential evidence will be whether officials identify specific systems under consideration, explain what data those systems would touch, define who remains accountable for decisions and disclose the cost and timeline of the Workday modernization. Those details will determine whether Vermont’s stated safeguards are operating as enforceable controls rather than broad principles.
