State Government

The California Department of Technology disputes many of the findings in a new report from the California State Auditor, the latest in a series of critiques of the agency since 2013.

Police departments across the Tri-Cities (Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland) in Washington have inked deals with Axon to get body cameras. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of body cams.

Maine's first year of running its own health insurance exchange came with double-digit enrollment increases and navigation challenges that the state told lawmakers it wants to fix before the next enrollment period.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker filed a $5 billion bill that would commit $185 million to state IT for cybersecurity and system upgrades. The bill would also address areas like public safety infrastructure.

The state's new governor has named a Federal Reserve veteran to take over an administrative role overseeing the IT agency. The incoming administration has called for more focus on cybersecurity and ransomware attacks.

In May 2020, after a special session there, the state Legislature earmarked $15 million in CARES federal relief money for tenants struggling to pay their rent because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposed constitutional amendment would add privacy as a natural right and says law enforcement must secure a warrant before searching or seizing an individual’s electronic data or electronic communications.

A proposal from state Rep. Robyn Gabel would require that new and renovated commercial and residential buildings have the physical capacity to support electric vehicle charging stations.

The Washington State Board of Health is facing protests after conspiracy theorists started a rumor that the board would order people to be put into quarantine facilities if they refused a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Maryland Department of Health said a ransomware attack is what disrupted its systems and services last month. Although officials didn't state much about the attack, they said the ransom wasn't paid.

Gov. Mark Gordon has appointed former Alaska CIO Bill Vajda to lead Wyoming's IT efforts within the Department of Enterprise Technology Services. Vajda replaces Interim Director Timothy Sheehan.

Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, announced Wednesday she will introduce legislation to leverage an expected $200 million in federal dollars to expand Internet services in underserved Oregon communities.

In a partnership with Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, Michigan will create an electric vehicle circuit around Lake Michigan. The roughly $4 million project aims to help ease EV owners’ “range anxiety.”

The Department of General Services, which manages about 14.4 million square feet of leased office space for the state, has relinquished or is in the process of relinquishing about 767,000 square feet of space.

SolarWinds’ latest annual Public Sector Cybersecurity Survey glimpses into state and local government priorities, including a focus on access management and concerns over curiosity- and reputation-driven hacking.

The latest talks between the federal government and the city of Portland, Ore., on police reform have led to a couple of major agreements, including a body camera measure that will involve Justice Department approval.

According to research, Washington's digital contact tracing app, WA Notify, plays a key part in COVID prevention. It gains about 2,000 users each week and utilizes Bluetooth to measure proximity between users.

The recently proposed legislation would require an update of the state’s websites, implementation of modern customer service experiences and a transition from paper processes to more intuitive digital formats.