State Cyber Leaders Ask Congress to Support SLCGP, CISA
State Cyber Leaders Ask Congress to Support SLCGP, CISA
https://www.govtech.com/security/state-cyber-leaders-ask-congress-to-support-slcgp-cisa
Publish Date: 2026-05-21 19:10:00
Source Domain: www.govtech.com
With national concern growing over the threat that new AI technologies pose to cybersecurity, a group of state government leaders had a request Thursday for Congress: help.
Cybersecurity and technology officials from the state governments of Tennessee, New York and Florida travelled to Washington, D.C., to testify before the U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity Infrastructure Protection. During the livestreamed meeting, they called for the reauthorization of funds for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) as well as for maintaining federal cyber coordination programs that state officials described as essential to defending local governments and critical infrastructure.
“Our states are on the front lines of multiple cyber conflicts,” said Colin Ahern, New York’s director of security and intelligence, during the hearing.
Much of the hearing centered on the future of the SLCGP, which was created in 2021 to help state, local, tribal and territorial governments strengthen cybersecurity protections and expand shared services. Multiple witnesses said the program has helped states deploy enterprise cybersecurity tools, centralized protections and workforce training to smaller and rural communities that cannot otherwise afford them.
Currently, Congress has reauthorized the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, but no new money has been allocated for it. A Senate bill that proposed allocating $300 million this year has not moved, despite the U.S. House of Representatives voting yes to the PILLAR Act to extend programming through 2033. That legislation now sits with this committee.
Ahern called the grant program “the single most consequential investment in the cyber protection of state and local governments in this country.”
The state leaders also emphasized the importance of continued support for the federal government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure…
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