Policy

An amended version of Assembly Bill 1111, if passed, would allow small education agencies to have the electric-bus requirement waived temporarily. Most polled superintendents are skeptical about the 2035 deadline.

Connecticut lawmakers on the state and national level are pushing for new Internet-related legislation aimed at protecting children, citing a state insider investigation.

The proposed act would establish a legal framework for state cybersecurity and artificial intelligence governance by mandating annual cyber training for public employees. It would also create cyber and AI oversight groups.

Proposed legislation would gut key components of the Inflation Reduction Act and potentially sideline the nation’s innovation growth in energy and transportation. On Thursday, executives in these sectors spoke out.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised 2025-2026 fiscal year state budget proposal has some General Fund reductions for agencies from the previous fiscal year. It would also provide additional funding for some tech projects.

The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday voted to advance a decadelong moratorium on state AI regulations after an amendment to remove the language from the bill failed.

Effective July 2026, elementary and middle school students in Georgia will not be allowed to have personal communication devices from the first bell to the last, with exceptions for students with IEPs or medical plans.

State and local entities had already begun to receive grant awards to teach digital skills and provide connectivity and devices for underserved people, including K-12 students, when the program was canceled last week.

Plus, New York announced grants through its ConnectALL initiative, Albuquerque halted a fiber installation initiative after resident complaints, broadband legislation to support rural providers emerged, and more.

The legislation would safeguard consumers and mandate transparency and accountability from the still-new industry. Nonpartisan staffers estimate implementation could cost $3 million or more in the next budget year.

Darwin, an artificial intelligence-focused startup, has released a free tool that agencies can use to spark AI development. The move comes as lawmakers and other officials pay increased attention to AI.

While many educators and parents have supported and attested to the efficacy of keeping smartphones out of schools, some educational organizations are warning Maine lawmakers not to overreach.

A bill heading to Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desk will require school districts to draft their own policies enacting a total cellphone ban for students during the school day, starting in the fall.

As data management becomes an increasingly important priority for state governments and the people they serve, experts examine what authority the federal government has to access private state information.

In defense of the moratorium, Republican lawmakers argued that regulations across 50 states pose too great a challenge for federal rules around artificial intelligence to be effectively developed.

Administrative support for the Office of Data Governance and Analytics has moved to the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, in an effort to improve efficiency and further enable teamwork.

The agency is seeking feedback on its idea to bring more precision to emergency call locations in hopes of helping first responders. The proposal reflects larger trends in the public safety space.

President Donald Trump has called for ending the Digital Equity Act, which Congress passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, referring to it as unconstitutional. Advocates respond and examine what that could mean.