Appropriations Committee advances AI oversight bill after narrow vote; OIT and agencies flag multi‑million IT costs

Senate Bill 4, which would regulate certain government uses of artificial intelligence and require disclosures and safeguards, advanced from the Appropriations Committee after a close vote and several sponsor amendments. Committee members adopted technical and scope‑narrowing amendments (L11, L18, L20) and the J‑amendment consolidating fiscal adjustments (J6); the final committee vote was 4–3.

Bill purpose and sponsor intent: The sponsor said SB 4 seeks to limit use of automated or algorithmic decision‑making for “consequential” government actions without disclosure, to require transparency, and to set standards for procurement and data handling. The majority leader and other sponsors described the bill as necessary to ensure human oversight and transparency when state agencies use automated tools that affect health care, benefits, supervision or other covered services.

Fiscal and implementation concerns: Legislative Council and the governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) told the committee the bill, as…