NASCIO Endorses State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act of 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C., Thursday, July 11, 2019 —The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) today endorsed S. 1846, the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act of 2019. Introduced by Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH), the legislation amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for engagements with state, local, tribal and territorial governments.

Specifically, S. 1846 provides for additional federal grant opportunities to state, local and tribal governments to safeguard against cyber threats. It also strives to make serious efforts to strengthen the communication between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and state and local officials to combat a myriad of cybersecurity threats. S. 1846 further codifies the coordination between DHS and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). Additionally, the legislation includes a proposed pilot deployment of enhanced capabilities to state and local governments to identify and filter malicious network traffic, which is currently only available to federal agencies.

NASCIO President and Delaware CIO James Collins lauded the introduction of S. 1846 saying, “states are the primary agents for delivering a host of critically important federally funded services on behalf of the federal government. For our CIOs and CISOs, this legislation would provide them with additional tools, resources and expertise to counteract a continuous barrage of cyber threats. We urge the Senate to pass S. 1846.”

The State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act of 2019 was introduced in the United States Senate in June and referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.