Vermont’s government may be pushing for more artificial intelligence.
By executive order, Gov. Phil Scott on Monday created the Vermont Artificial Intelligence Economic Task Force. The first item on the agenda is to provide up to five recommendations within 90 days on how state governments can implement AI to better serve their citizens. The group will also work to educate state leaders on how AI can be applied to work.
Neil Landerbill, who has worked with both Republican and Democratic governors and is currently president and CEO of Vermont Gas, will become chairman. Members include the heads of the Vermont Digital Services Authority and the Commercial Community Development Authority, as well as leaders from various economic sectors.
Landerbill said in an interview that he believes AI can give Vermont’s small businesses and rural communities an advantage, but only if the state acts quickly and responsibly.
“Before we can make smart decisions about AI, we really need to understand it,” he said, nodding to people’s understandable concerns about the rapidly expanding technology.
Given that AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT are powerful “off-the-shelf” tools, Landerbill said the technology could be a leveler for small and medium-sized businesses. For example, he noted that a small manufacturer could use AI to create a request for proposal, which could reduce a 20-hour process to five hours.
Lunderbill said he can imagine many ways the state could benefit from AI tools, given his experience in several cabinet-level positions in Vermont, but he declined to elaborate, saying he didn’t want to get ahead of the task force.
In an email, the Digital Services Agency cited ChatVT tools and invoice processing tools as examples of successful AI implementation. But a brief wiretap at the state Capitol this year provided further insight into how state officials are using AI. One state communications official said he uses AI to help draft messages for internal staff. State officials spoke with colleagues who use the tool to compile and summarize international news.
Lunderbill said AI could do some of the “low-value work” at the municipal level, where volunteer selectmen and part-time clerks handle town business.
“Then you will see better government,” he added.
In his personal life, Landerbill said he has created more than a dozen AI “apps or agents” using easily accessible tools. One of them crawls news articles and municipal websites to stay up to date on new housing developments across the state.
In addition to informing state government operations, the new task force will prioritize three themes: economic acceleration, small business competitiveness, and community resilience.
Disclosure: Neil Landerville is a former board member of the Vermont Journalism Trust, VTDigger’s parent organization.
Only those in the know know
Governor Scott vetoed a bill that would have created a nine-person commission tasked with developing and overseeing Vermont’s “sister state” relationships with foreign governments. Scott said in a letter to lawmakers Monday that he vetoed the bill because he determined one of its provisions violated the Vermont Constitution.
The bill would give the Sister States Commission the sole power to terminate partnerships with other governments by majority vote. But Scott said under the state constitution only he has the authority to “do business with government officials.”
“I understand the value of these partnerships and may support the bill provided it removes the termination clause while retaining the remaining provisions,” he said.
This is Scott’s third veto during the session. But one of them was just a small drafting error.
— Shaun Robinson
Friday marked the latest development in a complex legal battle over Scott, a state employee, who is required to return to work.
On April 1, the Vermont Labor Relations Board ordered the state to “rescind” the mandate, prompting administration officials to appeal the matter to the Vermont Supreme Court. Lawyers for the state filed a new motion with the court Friday asking to suspend the April order pending appeal.
The move was expected, as the administration asked the state Supreme Court for similar action last month, but was told to first ask the labor board itself for a moratorium. The commission largely denied that request earlier this month, but state attorneys doubled down on their petition to the high court for immediate assistance. Implementing the council’s April directive would cause “irreparable damage to the state and public interest,” they said.
Mr. Scott has expressed both anger at the Labor Commissioner’s decision and concern about the cost of the Labor Commissioner’s demands, including offering reinstatement to employees who left the administration due to the return-to-office policy and compensating employees for financial losses caused by his service. Meanwhile, leadership of the Vermont State Employees Association called the labor board’s order an “amazing victory” for its members and accused Scott of trying to delay its effectiveness.
— Theo Wells Spackman
On Friday, as lawmakers were debating a bill on the Senate floor that would create harsher penalties for animal abuse, including sex with animals, Sen. Steve Heffernan (R-Addison) asked, “What happens in these crazy times when an individual identifies as an animal who has sex with an animal?”
Next, Heffernan said he was concerned that if Vermont were to amend its constitution to say people have equal rights under the law regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, that amendment could provide protections to people who “identify as dogs” and have sex with dogs.
Senate Democrats condemned Heffernan’s comments in a press release Monday, saying Heffernan “repeatedly and intentionally compared transgender people to animals on the floor of the Vermont Senate, with the clear warning that Proposition 4 is the Vermont equivalent.”
This was due to protective remediation measures. ”
Heffernan said in an interview Tuesday that Democrats misunderstood his remarks. He wasn’t talking about transgender people, but rather people who self-identify as animals rather than humans.
“It’s the left that is trying to say, ‘He’s transphobic,'” Heffernan said.
Heffernan said she is not transphobic. But he said he was unsure whether he would support the Equal Rights Amendment, given concerns about people “using it for extreme purposes.” He said he considered having sex with animals “extreme” and did not want such people to be protected by law.
Heffernan previously left the Senate floor during a vote on a constitutional amendment bill in March, citing abdominal pain. On Tuesday, Heffernan declined to say how he would vote on the amendment if he were to vote.
— charlotte oliver
on the trail
On Tuesday, Rep. Ashley Bartley (R-Fairfax) announced her candidacy for the Chittenden North District Senate seat. This position is currently held by Sen. Chris Matos (R-Chittenden North), who is scheduled to resign at the end of this session.
Bartley will be running against Democrat Eileen Renner, who held the seat until losing it to Matos.
Bartley’s commitment to expanding housing is what sets her apart, she said at a news conference Tuesday.
“For years, we have poured money into the housing crisis without adequately addressing the policies that make it harder, slower and more expensive to build homes in the first place,” she said. “If we want true affordability, we must continue to have serious conversations about allowing reform, responsible growth, and reducing unnecessary barriers to housing construction.”
— Olivia Giger
