Policy

Officials have formally named Bryce Bailey the state’s chief information security officer, elevating him from the interim role after nearly a month in place. Cybersecurity, he said, “is a long game.”

States have until April to meet the federal mandate established under the Americans with Disabilities Act, requiring all digital products be accessible for people with disabilities. Readiness levels vary.

Two proposed laws now under consideration have differing approaches to the technology campuses. One would have a state authority certify projects. The other would require new renewable energy sources.

The bill would ban large language models from making “independent therapeutic decisions” or generating “therapeutic recommendations or treatment plans” without review from a licensed therapist.

Public records requests reveal that more than 20,000 public comments submitted in opposition to a proposal around gas appliances were generated by a company called CiviClick.

Under state law, New Jersey public school students must be in classrooms for the day to be counted, with exceptions for when schools are closed more than three consecutive days due to a declared state of emergency.

The newly proposed Senate budget would ditch the state sales tax exemption for data centers, adding more than $1 billion in tax revenue that could fund tax cuts and critical spending priorities.

City Council members are mulling policy for the devices that lines up with neighboring local governments and state law, too. The goal, the police chief said, is to ensure their safe, responsible use.

The Trump administration plans to sue states for their artificial intelligence laws, but how the push is affecting work on future legislation depends on a state’s politics.

Plus, New Mexico is increasing access to affordable Internet, federal legislation has advanced in Congress to better track funding, Indiana residents have expanded access to fiber broadband, and more.

The move places the state among a growing group of governments using the shared authorization framework to reduce duplicative vendor security assessments. GovRAMP evolved from StateRAMP last year.

If enacted, a bill that cleared its final Senate committee hurdle this week includes provisions for parent notifications and consent regarding instructional AI tools, as well as responsibilities for ed-tech vendors.

A new report by CALSTART indicates transitions to electric trucks are facing some of the same headwinds as the light-duty vehicle market. In certain states, however, their numbers are stronger than expected.

A bipartisan, two-bill package would define the systems and set limits on how they collect, store and share data. The information could only be kept 14 days in most cases and its use would be prescribed.

The Secretary of State seeks $9.8 million from the state budget for the ongoing project. A request for proposals is expected this spring to refresh the legacy platform used by more than 146,000 notaries.

Federal lawmakers reactivated the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program earlier this month — but the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees it, is in partial shutdown.

A proposed state Senate bill would transfer the Florida Digital Service’s duties and functions to a new division within the governor’s office. It’s the second reorganization of state IT suggested in a year.

Part of an update to the city IT handbook, the policy covers topics including privacy and the ethical usage of AI. Among its regulations, the upload of sensitive personal information to AI models is forbidden.