Gov. Glenn Youngkin has issued an executive order that will launch an “agentic” AI pilot that aims to review and streamline the regulatory process. This pilot program, the first of its kind on the state level, will review the state’s regulations to identify redundancies and contradictions.
“We have made tremendous strides towards streamlining regulations and the regulatory process in the Commonwealth. Using emergent artificial intelligence tools, we will push this effort further in order to continue our mission of unleashing Virginia’s economy in a way that benefits all of its citizens,” Youngkin said in a news release.
The AI regulatory review tool will scan all of the state’s regulations and guidance documents to find “areas in which the regulation contradicts the statute, identify redundancies, and highlight areas in which the regulatory language can be streamlined.”
It also allows state agencies to continue using AI to facilitate future reviews of regulations and guidance policies.
This move is part of Youngkin’s broader deregulation goals. Virginia has already exceeded its 25 percent regulatory reduction goal that Youngkin called for in Executive Directives 1 and 19. According to the release, Virginia agencies have “streamlined” 26.8 percent of the requirements in their regulations and cut 47.9 percent of the words in guidance documents.
“This new initiative will supercharge that process,” the news release said. “It will help the handful of agencies currently struggling to hit the 25 percent goal to get across the finish line. And it will allow agencies that have already met or exceeded a 25 percent reduction to ensure they have streamlined regulations and guidance documents to the greatest extent possible.”
Feature image by Michael Butcher
