Newsroom

May 28, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Monica Hernandez
(916) 883-5116
Monica.Hernandez@state.ca.gov

H.D. Palmer
(916) 323-0648
h.d.palmer@dof.ca.gov

California will use GenAI to accelerate legislative bill analysis and the impacts on the state budget

New technology will help team members of Department of Finance analyze bills faster and identify redundancies within proposed legislation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California continues to build upon Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order on Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), today with the announcement that the Department of Finance(DOF) has entered into agreement with Authorium, a California-based company, to utilize GenAI for a new project that will help the state analyze the cost of bills proposed by the Legislature and their impact on the state budget. 

Currently, DOF team members comb through volumes of legislative material, including over 1000 legislative bills and proposals annually. Working together with Authorium, DOF aims to significantly reduce the manual workload associated with drafting bill analyses including summarizing a bill, collecting fiscal information from impacted state entities, and parsing relevant data sets and sources for background and historical information. 

The California Department of Technology (CDT) will support the use, security, and maintenance of the GenAI tool. They will also provide oversight and guidance throughout the lifecycle of the project to ensure the system is used effectively and responsibly.  

“California is embracing emerging technologies and innovation to modernize how we serve the public. By exploring the use of Generative AI in legislative workflows, we’re laying the foundation for smarter, faster, and more transparent government services.” – State Chief Information Officer and Director of the California Department of Technology Liana Bailey-Crimmins. 

DOF, CDT, and Authorium will utilize Amazon Web Services Bedrock platform, which leverages several Large Language Models including Meta’s Llama.   

“We are honored to be selected by the California Department of Finance to increase efficiency and effectiveness in critical legislative and policy efforts. As a public benefit corporation, we remain fully focused on enabling government teams to modernize operational and administrative processes through our no-code platform.” – Jay Nath and Kamran Saddique, Co-CEOs of Authorium. 

Leading in efficiency  

California is leading in the effort to implement AI and other technologies into state government operations, quickly adopting projects through its new innovative procurement method, Request for Innovative Ideas (RFI2). RFI2 allows the state to quickly test technology through safe and secure environments, providing the state and the innovator community valuable insights while protecting state data. RFI2 was adopted by the state in 2019, after Governor Newsom sought to improve the onerous state purchasing process and help the state to more efficiently adopt these new technologies. 

GenAI, the California way 

Recently, Governor Newsom announced the advancement of three new agreements as part of California’s first-in-the-nation project to integrate cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology into state operations. 

GenAI to reduce highway congestion  

• • The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will use GenAI to process and interpret complex data to improve its traffic pattern analysis, address bottlenecks, and enhance overall traffic management.  

GenAI for traffic safety  

• • Caltrans will also be using GenAI to investigate near misses of injuries/fatalities to identify risky areas and monitor interventions designed to increase safety of vulnerable road users, including bike riders and pedestrians.  

GenAI to enhance customer service 

• • The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) will use GenAI to swiftly search more than 16,000 pages of reference materials and assist staff in providing responses to taxpayers via telephone and live chat.  

Today’s announcement is the first milestone in bringing the state closer to possibly using GenAI for operational efficiencies in housing, workforce planning, and legislative bill analysis. The collective work is ongoing, and the state anticipates completing these projects by summer 2025.   

Leading in government efficiency  

Governor Newsom has made efficiency a top priority since the start of his Administration. In 2019, the Governor established the Office of Data Innovation, a group of technology experts dedicated to supporting other state agencies, departments, and employees to utilize data, technology, and principles of human-centered design common in the private sector to improve the delivery of services to Californians.  

Prioritizing efficiency and innovation — with appropriate safeguards protecting privacy, safety, and civil liberties — Governor Newsom has: 

• • Overhauled and modernized the Department of Motor Vehicles to reduce wait times, expand online services, and improve customer service. 

• • Implemented new cutting-edge technologies to fight wildfires, including cameras across the state and data modeling to predict where wildfires might occur, deployment of drones, and improved incident reporting. 

• • Issued an executive order directing state agencies to implement GenAI into state government operations and help support the work of front-line employees. 

• • Expedited the procurement process through an innovative Request for Innovative Ideas (RFI2), which allows state agencies to quickly test technology through safe and secure environments. Through this expedited process, California has already announced three important contracts, using GenAI to reduce highway congestion, improve traffic safety, and enhance customer service. 

• • Issued internal guidelines and associated toolkit to ensure safe, secure, and responsible government procurement and use of AI.   

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