Vermont secretary of state outlines multi‑million dollar IT overhaul, warns of smaller federal cybersecurity grants

MONTPELIER — Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanses told the Senate Committee on Institutions on Feb. 17 that her office has had to replace four major IT systems and add a fifth, a process she said has been the office’s biggest operational lift since she took office in 2023.

Hanses and Deputy Secretary Lauren Hibbert described the systems, their functions and the costs of implementation and upkeep. Hibbert said the business services system went live in December 2024 with an implementation cost of about $3,000,000, roughly $350,000 in annual maintenance and an estimated $300,000 in change requests. The campaign finance system went live in January 2025 with about $360,000 in implementation costs, $20,000 in annual maintenance and roughly $150,000–$200,000 in anticipated change requests. Hanses described the elections management system — which supports town clerks, assistants and office staff and integrates voter data from ERIC, the DMV and vital records — as the largest project, with implementation she gave as about $33,800,000 and ongoing maintenance near $600,000 a year.

“These systems are our front door,” Hibbert said, describing why mobile accessibility and strong security matter for Vermonters who use the online services. She said automation has also reduced manual work in programs such as Safe at Home, the state’s address‑confidentiality program, where an upgraded system replaced spreadsheets and PDF workflows and enabled automated label printing and participant communications.

The office also described the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) system, noting that OPR regulates 53 professions and about 86,000 licensees across 157 license types. Hibbert, a former OPR director, said prior implementers underbid work (she named Virtusa) and that the office has used extensions while reviewing responses to an RFI and preparing an RFP to decide whether to remain on the current Pega‑based build or move to a new platform.

Hanses and Hibbert emphasized partnerships with the Agency of Digital Services (ADS) and said ADS staff were embedded in procurement and implementation work. “We have to follow BGS and ADS procurement rules,” Hanses said, adding that ADS provides security support and that the office maintains service‑level agreements with ADS.

The witnesses also warned about evolving cybersecurity support and funding. Hanses said state election systems have been targeted by foreign actors for years and that the federal election‑specific support that used to be available for tailored alerts and assistance has changed; the pair described relying more on coordination among states, ADS and state police cyber staff. Hibbert said Vermont’s small‑state minimum cybersecurity grant was cut from $1,000,000 to $275,000 this year, a reduction she described as roughly two‑thirds of prior funding.

Because many contracts include renewal options that could push multiple expirations into the same future window, Hanses proposed a different budgeting approach: create an IT capital reserve fund to smooth out replacement costs across fiscal years. “Rather than having the sticker shock that we had in 2023–24, it makes a lot more sense for us to be thinking over the course of the next 5 to 10 years what we can set aside each year into a capital reserve fund so that we can replace the IT systems when they expire,” she said. Hanses said the office has presented this idea to the Appropriations Committee and plans to return to the legislature to request permission to create the fund.

Committee members asked technical and procurement questions, including what maintenance fees cover (Hibbert said maintenance pays for system upkeep, security, testing and bug fixes, not staff salaries), whether ADS helped with the builds (yes), and whether the office expects large implementation costs again in 2029 when several contracts approach renewal dates (Hanses said many contracts include two two‑year renewal options and the office hopes to stagger renewals where possible).

The hearing concluded with the secretary and deputy offering to follow up with additional procurement and SLA details. The committee adjourned at the conclusion of the Q&A.