State Government

The state is on the cutting edge of a larger movement to hold social media companies financially accountable for the news that they use on their platforms. Lawmakers are taking some of their cues from similar Australian legislation.

A cyber attack against the Nebraska Judicial Branch's internal intranet appears not to have exposed any sensitive data, officials report. The hack was part of a series of attacks against government entities.

The state of Massachusetts has announced the launch of a new interactive, online map in an effort to help state agencies, localities and contractors identify certified diverse business partners.

Porat, who was named chief technology innovation officer for the California Department of Technology in December, will be transitioning to oversee the Office of Technology Services as the state's new chief technology officer.

The nation’s two largest public pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, have provided more details about their actions after a data breach exposed the personal information of 1.2 million government retirees and beneficiaries.

Gov. Jay Inslee is calling for more speed cameras across the state to combat the rise in fatal traffic collisions. Data shows a lack of progress in the state plan to eliminate fatal and serious injury collisions by 2030.

A new report ranks states for their transition to electric vehicles. California leads the list, followed by New York, largely because of the Empire State’s robust plans to transition all of its school buses to zero-emission vehicles.

Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed Senate Bill 101 omnibus, formalizing the approval of the $310.8 billion state budget. The legislation outlines hundreds of millions for broadband expansion and IT efforts in the state.

The federal government has announced that Washington state will get more than $1.2 billion to expand Internet access. But how big of an impact will the money actually make for residents?

House Bill 3127, currently awaiting Gov. Tina Kotek’s signature, would ban TikTok and several other apps from companies based in China. The bill also bans cybersecurity software from Russia-based Kaspersky Lab.

The state is set to receive more than $196.5 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration as part of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.

As of June 21, Maine’s executive branch entities are barred from using generative AI. This moratorium is intended to give the state time to research and evaluate risks posed by the technology.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, which oversees more than 40 transit agencies in the state, has partnered with technology provider Via to give all agencies access to the Remix planning platform.

Legislation in the state aimed at restricting large data center climate emissions and ballooning tax breaks has failed. Data centers are among the state’s biggest energy consumers and largest tax break recipients.

The company, a subsidiary of online retailer Amazon, plans to invest an estimated $7.8 billion by the end of 2029 as part of an expansion of its data center operations in central part of the state.

Alabama Office of Information Technology Secretary Marty Redden has announced his retirement. Gov. Kay Ivey has tapped the deputy secretary to take on the leadership role in his absence.

The names, social security numbers, birth dates and other confidential information of around 769,000 retirees and beneficiaries was stolen when hackers exploited a vulnerability in a CalPERS vendor’s system.

States shouldn’t wait for a national privacy policy to address the critical issue of protecting constituent data. Hiring a chief privacy officer should top every state’s priority list.