Senate Internet Technology Committee advances four bills on IP database, school biometrics, meeting transparency and chatbot liability

The Senate Internet Technology Committee on March 12, 2025, chaired by Sen. Gonzalez, reported four bills out of committee, advancing measures on a public authorities database and intellectual property, a ban on biometric identification in schools, publication requirements for public meetings, and liability for false information provided by chatbots.

The measures move policy changes through the legislative process on topics the committee described as affecting technology governance, student privacy, public transparency and AI accountability.

Senate Bill 13 41, sponsored by Sen. Parker, "acts to amend the public authorities law in relation to the maintenance of a database and intellectual property," according to the committee record. A motion to move the bill passed in committee; the bill was reported from the Internet Technology Committee to the finance committee. The transcript records a voice approval but does not provide a roll-call tally.

Senate Bill 38 27, sponsored by Sen. Goyman Siegel, "acts to amend the state technology law in relation to banning the use of biometric identifying technology in schools." Committee members moved the bill and the committee reported it to the Education Committee. The transcript shows a committee voice vote in favor; no vote count or individual votes were recorded in the minutes.

Senate Bill 38 89, introduced in committee by Sen. Gonzalez and described as amending the state technology law and the public officers law "in relation to the publication of information on public meetings," was moved in committee and reported to the finance committee. The transcript shows the motion and a voice vote but does not record individual tally numbers.

Senate Bill 5,668, identified in committee as a change to the general business law "in relation to liability for false information provided by a chatbot," drew the most on-record commentary in the brief session. Sen. Gonzalez said the bill "is super important. We need to do more in the chatbot space," and noted that similar language appears in the executive budget and in a House/Senate measure (Senate bill 934) that would require warnings on chatbots, but that SB 5,668 "takes a step further by assigning liability to companies for unsafe, large language models." A motion to move SB 5,668 passed and the bill was reported from the Internet Technology Committee to first reading. The transcript records only a voice vote in favor; no roll-call tally was given.

Votes at a glance: all four bills were moved out of committee on voice votes and advanced to the next legislative step identified on the record (two to the finance committee, one to the Education Committee, one to first reading). The transcript does not include recorded roll-call tallies or names of members voting "aye" beyond the committee's voice approvals.

The committee meeting lasted only a few minutes and concluded after the four measures were moved forward. The committee chair adjourned the meeting following the final voice vote.