Albany, NY – Assemblyman Steve Otis (AD – 91) Chair of the Assembly Science and Technology Committee and State Senator Kristen Gonzalez (SD – 59) Chair of the Senate Internet and Technology Committee are pleased to announce passage of the ‘Legislative Oversight of Automated Decision-making in Government Act” (LOADing Act)’ in both houses. This legislation will provide assessment, transparency, and oversight of automated decision-making systems used for high stakes decisions by state agencies affecting individuals (A9430-B).

The legislation requires that state agencies provide an assessment and disclosure to the legislature of all automated decision-making systems used for decisions affecting individual receipt of public benefits, rights, civil liberties, safety, welfare, or statutory and constitutional rights. In addition, this legislation will:

• Establish procedures that require meaningful human review when state agencies use automated decision-making systems in actions involving delivery of public benefits to individuals or that impact the rights, civil liberties, safety, or welfare of an individual.

• Require the completion of impact assessment reports covering the objectives, accuracy, fairness, and vulnerabilities of systems to be used.
• Require that agencies stop using systems determined to produce discriminatory or biased outcomes by the impact assessment. The impact assessments would be provided to the Legislature and posted on state agencies websites.

Assemblyman Otis said, “Automated decision-making and artificial intelligence provide great tools for improving services. These tools must be accompanied by guardrails, transparency, and oversight to make sure that management of these systems remain controlled by humans and that they do not provide faulty, biased, or discriminatory outcomes. This legislation is the first in the nation to establish a statutory framework to provide state agencies and the public with a process for ongoing assessment of the evolving use of automated decision-making.”

Senator Gonzalez said, “The LOADinG Act is the first step towards ensuring that the increasingly fast adoption of AI within all aspects of life is implemented with ethical responsibilities in mind. As a human being that has experienced first-hand the implications of AI misinformation and bias, not only do we have to address the systems in place that are accessible to the public– we must first address this potential bias within our own state agencies.”

Caitrionia Fitzgerald, Deputy Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said, “There is currently little oversight as to whether AI systems are producing results that are accurate, fair, and unbiased. The public disclosure of impact assessments required by the LOADinG Act is a strong step towards providing critical oversight of AI systems affecting New Yorkers' lives.”

Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO, “We strongly support the LOADinG Act to ensure that AI is used responsibly. We commend Assemblyman Otis for shepherding this through the Assembly and are pleased that it passed in the Senate. We urge Governor Hochul to sign this critically important bill to balance using artificial intelligence in state government as an efficiency tool and ensuring it does not replace jobs or human decision-making. Vital transparency, disclosures on its uses and applications, and worker protections must be enacted to ensure that AI positively impacts our economy.”

Mary E. Sullivan, President, Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), “With this legislation, New York will lead the nation in the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in the public sector. This bill will ensure the state is transparent when AI is used and that it will supplement, not replace, the public sector workforce. This legislation is a critical first step to ensure that New York is prepared to deal with this emerging technology.”

Wayne Spence, President, NYS Public Employees Federation, “PEF has been growing increasingly concerned with the unregulated proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems in state agencies. We are thankful for the efforts of State Senate and Assembly majorities and the bill sponsors -- Assembly Science and Technology Committee Chairperson Steven Otis (D-AD 91) and Senate Internet and Technology Committee Chairperson Kristen Gonzalez (D-SD 59) for passing groundbreaking legislation to address this situation. The Legislative Oversight of Automated Decision-making in Government (LOADinG) Act (S.7543-B/A.9430-A) requires an official inventory of existing AI products being used by state agencies; prohibits the use of AI in public assistance benefit determinations; enhances regulation, transparency, periodic testing and human oversight of current and future AI products used to administer or deliver services; and protects workers against potential layoff or displacement issues arising from the expanded use of AI.

The LOADinG Act is the most advanced and meaningful regulatory approach in the nation regarding government procurement and usage of AI. This legislation is needed to protect the people of New York from potential unintended consequences arising from the rapidly evolving development and implementation of AI systems for government administration and the delivery