NASCIO Endorses DOTGOV Act of 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C., Monday, November 2, 2019 —The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) today endorsed S. 2749, the DOTGOV Act of 2019. Introduced by U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and James Lankford (R-OK), the legislation takes serious steps to expand the adoption of the .gov domain in order to improve the cybersecurity of local  government websites. 

Specifically, the bipartisan bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to develop an outreach strategy to inform and support the migration to the .gov domain of local governments, as well as provide technical information on how to migrate online services to .gov. Additionally, the DOTGOV Act of 2019 authorizes the use of Homeland Security Grant funds as an allowable expense for the adoption of the .gov domain and further stipulates that the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency may waive any fees associated with migration to .gov.

NASCIO President and North Carolina Secretary and State CIO Eric Boyette lauded the introduction of S. 2749 saying, “as local governments continue to be targets of a constant barrage of sophisticated cybersecurity and spoofing attacks, the .gov domain sends a message to the user that the domain is legitimate and secure. NASCIO has long advocated for the adoption of .gov domains and we greatly appreciate this legislative effort to provide assistance to vulnerable and under-resourced local governments.” 

The DOTGOV Act of 2019 was introduced in the United States Senate on October 30 and referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. More information on S. 2749 can be found HERE.