Finance

City officials have approved the purchase of new virtual reality training equipment for the police department. The equipment will offer a new approach to training for encounters with people who struggle with mental illness.

Two years in, the relatively young IT agency is working to build a team, build trust and build up, says CIO Jamie Grant. The process has required a significant shift away from "business as usual."

Voters approved more than $326 million in bond funding for Texas’ Montgomery Independent School District to fund a new elementary school, a new agriculture center and a new career and technical education center.

The federal grant money will be allocated to five projects across San Luis Obispo County, ranging from building new radio communications towers in areas with limited service to improving existing towers.

A new tool from the Pittsburgh Office of Management and Budget aims to make data on budget decisions more transparent, as one of many efforts the city has undertaken to make data more accessible to the public.

The state has partnered with the financial technology company ClassWallet to help manage the distribution of federal relief funds given to private and other nonpublic schools, an announcement said.

The grant comes through the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which began in 2019, and will provide a total of $91.3 million over the next decade to regional cooperatives in the northeastern part of the state.

The recently announced funds will be used to expand cybersecurity and IT education programs across the state to help grow the state's high-tech workforce. The money is part of a larger $30 million workforce training push.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the city was awarded $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the expansion of its municipal network. Voters recently approved $20 million in bonds for the work.

Plus, the NTIA has updated its guide for federal broadband funding; New York City is offering free municipal broadband to housing authority residents; a new paper explores telehealth’s impact on maternal health; and more.

CSC 2.0, the successor to the Congress-backed Cybersecurity Solarium Commission, has released its first annual assessment since becoming part of a D.C. think tank, marking progress on dozens of federal cyber policies.

Gov. Jared Polis announced that a cryptocurrency payment option will be offered on all state tax bills — including individual and business incomes — during a kickoff event for Denver Startup Week, which began Monday.

The new radios include next-generation technology that would give the department improved coverage and may play a role in future school safety plans, according to Albany County, N.Y., Sheriff Craig Apple.

The Department of Homeland Security released the long-anticipated Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. A separate NOFO for the Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program will follow.

Butte County, Calif., officials have approved the purchase of a new land management tracking system with money from the $146.7 million Camp Fire settlement with Pacific Gas and Electric.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran announced the $750,000 educational grant for the Friends University cybersecurity program last week. The grant funding will go toward scholarships, technology and equipment.

The audit, commissioned by the state, found that the Department of Labor paid between $441 million and $466 million in fraudulent unemployment claims between March of 2020 and March of 2022.

A proposed decision from the California Public Utilities Commission, if adopted, will adjust California LifeLine subsidies for service plans that receive federal ACP subsidies. Reaction to the proposal is mixed.