Over the July 4th weekend, extreme rainfall in Central Texas caused catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River, leaving over 100 people dead and 160 people missing. Amidst the devastation, one question remains: in an area known as “flash flood alley,” why wasn’t there a flood warning system in place? This week, the Priorities Podcast reruns an episode from last year that centered on the alerts issued in another disaster, in North Carolina. A system there uses data from stream gauges, small devices that measure the water level and discharge of rivers and streams, for flood forecasting and disaster preparedness, which helped in the response to Hurricane Helene.

Top stories this week:

On Monday, ranking members of Congress sent a letter to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, demanding to know why the agency hasn’t responded to their recent inquiries about how its supporting state and local election offices. Democratic leaders Rep. Joseph D. Morelle and Sen. Alex Padilla wrote that they’re seeking “urgent updates” to the status of numerous election security policies and programs available under previous administrations.

A new California bill aims to address the harmful impacts of “companion” chatbots, artificial intelligence-powered systems designed to simulate human-like relationships and provide emotional support. The bill would require companies running companion chatbots to remind users that they’re talking to a machine, not a person and clearly state that chatbots may not be suitable for minors. If passed, it would be among the first laws in the country to regulate AI companions with clear safety standards and user protections.

In signing the state’s two-year budget last week, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont authorized funding for the Voting Rights Act. The act offers voter protections, including legal tools to fight discriminatory voting rules in court, expanded language assistance for voters who struggle with English and a data portal to host all of the state’s election results and demographic information.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.

What could Texas learn from North Carolina’s flood warning system?

A new directory and mapping tool is helping nonprofits, governments and members of the public better understand which benefits programs are being offered around the country. Jennifer Phillips, with the Digital Benefits Network at the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, joins StateScoop's Priorities Podcast to explain why the new tools are such a helpful component of the group's work. "Our theory of change at the Beeck Center and Digital Benefits Network is to take collective, collaborative action, it's really critical to know where are the organizations, what are they doing, which sectors are doing what," Phillips says. "And having that line of sight across the ecosystem is really critical to improving public benefits access delivery."

This week’s top stories:

The network that hosts services for the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday went offline after a recent “cyber incident,” according to a notice Sunday posted to his official X account on Monday. Sunday called the situation “frustrating” and said officials were working to understand what happened.

Numerous state and local officials shared with StateScoop a belief that they will need to be more self-reliant in the years ahead, as keystone cyber programs are abandoned or scaled back, and as they receive fewer communications from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Of particular concern for many state and local technology officials are recent federal cuts to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a group that for more than 20 years has shared critical cybersecurity intelligence across state lines and provided threat monitoring services and other resources at free or heavily discounted rates.

A recent investigation by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers reveals a landscape of complicated procurement laws that are challenging vendors. The report concludes by making several recommendations, including that private companies educate themselves on the procurement processes of the states where they bid and to deploy legal teams that are specialized in public sector dealings.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.

Mapping digital benefits delivery

This week, the Colorado state legislature will meet for a special session, called by Gov. Jared Polis, to discuss, revise, and potentially delay the Colorado AI Act. Tyler Thompson, a partner at Reed Smith, joins StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast to say he’s worried about the law's effectiveness, especially with the federal government, after the release of its  AI Action Plan, threatening to withhold funding for states with burdensome AI regulations. He said the upcoming special session, starting Thursday, is expected to address these issues, potentially altering the law's applicability and compliance requirements.

Top stories this week:
In a letter last week to the Virginia agency managing bids and proposals for the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, SpaceX claimed the state’s final proposal purposefully excluded Starlink, the company’s low Earth orbit satellite internet service, from most locations. The company claims that excluding its services would be a “massive waste of federal taxpayer money.”

The Sacramento suburb of Folsom, California, last month released a promotional video that showcased Bigfoot giving a guided tour of the city — going to the zoo, swimming in Lake Natoma, getting ice cream and ziplining. The video is the latest instance of local governments turning to AI to boost their tourism or streamline processes.

After a years long legal debate, the California Supreme Court has held to a decision that police departments in the state are required to release some of the footage recorded by their drones. The court denied hearing the City of Chula Vista’s argument against a court requirement that it release its police department’s drone footage to a journalist who asked to see some of the footage.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.


Why is Colorado reviewing its AI Act?

Jennifer Hickerson, a senior manager who specializes in telecommunications at the professional services firm Baker Tilly, joins the Priorities Podcast this week to explain how changes to the BEAD program are affecting the outcomes in states. Final proposal submissions from states are due next week. Each state has been a different approach to how it seeks vendors and the types of technologies it pursues. Hickerson says states that have been advertising to vendors an emphasis on lowest cost have seen more responses from satellite and fixed wireless vendors. “That message really seems to have an impact on applicants,” she says. “Those who really needed to drive down those costs in a way that was no longer sustainable started to question whether it was worth it to apply for this program. It also gave the message that some technologies might fare better in applying for the BEAD program.”

Top stories this week:

In a letter addressed to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Arielle Roth, administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 10 Democrats from the House of Representatives are asking for clarification on how states can use “nondeployment” funds they are set to soon receive through the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. The letter asks for clarification on how states can use their BEAD funding for projects not directly related to building out new fiber networks or installing wireless towers.

Two cybersecurity incidents disabled state services over the weekend. A service in Maryland that provides transportation to people with disabilities is unable to take new reservations. And a number of Nevada’s websites, services and phone lines, including those for the Nevada Highway Patrol and Nevada State Police, faced outages.

The Texas legislature has passed several pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening protections for young campers after devastating floods last month left more than two dozen campers and counselors dead at Camp Mystic. The legislation would create new rules pertaining to alerts, emergency plans and where camps are allowed to operate.
New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.

How vague BEAD guidance could lead to broadband disparities

Elizabeth Dunn, a faculty member at the University of South Florida's College of Public Health, joins the Priorities Podcast to share her expertise on the technology and psychology behind hurricane evacuation orders. She says that storms are becoming stronger and developing more quickly, elevating the importance of governments issuing clear messages. And many people who receive evacuation orders inland or who think only high-category storms are worth avoiding, she says, frequently find themselves in dangerous situations. 

Top stories this week: 

Texas has created a “hostile foreign adversaries unit” designed to stop the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party on U.S. soil. The unit was created by SB 2514, a new law that joins more than a dozen other new laws and executive orders created over the past year targeting Chinese influence in Texas.

Less than one month before the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program is set to expire, several industry groups on Tuesday signed a letter addressed to congressional leaders requesting that the program be revived, but this time with more money. Led by the Alliance for Digital Innovation, the groups are asking homeland security and appropriations committee leaders to expand the program to the tune of $4.5 billion over two years.

Delaware’s technology department on Tuesday announced that it’s named Aashish Patel, who’s been serving as the state’s interim chief security officer, to serve in the position long term.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.

Why some people don’t evacuate before hurricanes

The Digital Benefits Network, part of the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University, released a report this week focused on understanding the experience applicants have when applying for public benefits online, specifically account creation and identity verification. Elizabeth Bynum Sorrell, Senior Manager at the Digital Benefits Network, joins StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast to share that the report found that beneficiaries prioritize access over privacy, but have a hard time navigating the different steps to verify their identity. She also highlights the importance of single sign-on systems to simplify the process and build trust, noting their use in 20 states.

Top stories this week: 

The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program is on track to be reauthorized. The Protecting Information by Local Leaders for Agency Resilience, or PILLAR, Act, was introduced last week and began winding its way through committees, enjoying favorable bipartisan comments. One thing it's missing, though, is a dollar amount.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach on Monday made public he’s suing Gov. Laura Kelly. The suit is his attempt to force the governor to send the personal data of 730,000 applicants who applied to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program over the past five years  to the federal government.

A report published last week by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers cautions that accessibility lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act are already on the rise, jumping from 2,250 lawsuits in 2019 to 4,000 last year, with costs to offenders as high as $350,000, not counting remediation costs. The warning comes as states look ahead to an April 2026 deadline to meet new accessibility requirements.
New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.


Crafting a good state benefits portal

On this episode of the Priorities podcast, Colorado Representative Brianna Titone reflects on the state legislature’s decision to delay implementing the Colorado AI Act, the state’s high-risk artificial intelligence legislation, until the end of June 2026. She expresses disappointment with the watered-down bill and the pressure from big tech companies, like Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce, to oppose it. Titone encouraged lawmakers to take a proactive approach to AI regulation and aim for uniform policy across states due to federal inaction.

Top stories this week: 

California’s artificial intelligence bill, which would address the use of automated decision systems failed to advance in the state assembly during the final hours of the 2025 legislative session. AB 1018 would have required companies and government agencies to notify individuals when automated decision systems were used for “consequential decisions,” such as employment, housing, health care, and financial services. 

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said the state has faced a 300% increase in cyberattack attempts on its websites since a ransomware attack in August knocked several state websites offline and downed digital services. Lombardo said the state’s firewall systems experienced roughly 150 million attempts in the 72 hours following the press conference discussing the attack.

Last week Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order to boost the state’s election security. The order directs the Department of Elections and several other agencies to update safeguards that protect voter data, voting machines, and election systems from cyber threats. 

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.



The cost of delaying Colorado's AI Act

Tarek Tomes, the chief information officer of Minnesota, and Katie Savage, Maryland’s CIO, may be separated by 1,000 miles, but they have at least one thing in common when it comes to their work: They both have directives from their governors to support child and family services. Gov. Tim Walz has said he wants to make Minnesota the best state in the nation to raise a family. And Gov. Wes Moore has named eliminating child poverty as one of his top priorities in Maryland. Both CIOs tell StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast that they are working with agencies across the state to ensure they have the IT support they need to meet their goals. “I think approaching technology through the lens of empathy — really understanding that when people are knocking on these doors, you know, they’re knocking on these doors with a lot of other things going on in their lives,” Tomes says.

This week’s top stories:

New York State has named a new deputy chief information officer. Jenson Jacob, a longtime state government employee, was named to the role recently after serving in roles as lead enterprise architect, chief digital transformation officer and deputy chief technology officer.

Texas’ secretary of state has announced it has data-sharing agreements with nine other states. The agreements are designed to allow Texas to reduce voter fraud and identify inconsistencies like duplicate registrations. Some of the details of the data-sharing arrangements are unclear, however, because the state has not published the agreements.

A federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Department of Agriculture from collecting the personal data of individuals applying for SNAP benefits in 21 states and Washington, D.C. The ruling arrived after privacy advocates raised concerns that such data sharing could expose applicants’ sensitive information.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.

The technology behind child and family services

On this episode of the Priorities podcast, James Barros, administrator of the Emergency Management Agency in Hawaii, joins us to discuss the results of the September tests. He said the tests showed the need for clearer evacuation messaging in emergency alerts, tailored to each person’s physical location. Details, such as whether residents are in buildings, on the beach or at high elevation, that each require a different response. 

Top stories this week: 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has confirmed it will end its long-standing cooperative agreement with the Center for Internet Security, which runs the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. The shift could change how state and local governments access the monitoring services they rely on for cyber defense.

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed California’s SB 53, which imposes new transparency rules on major AI developers, requiring them to disclose how they assess safety risks, publish safety protocols, and report major incidents. The new law, which takes effect in January, positions California as a leader in AI oversight as federal regulation remains in flux.

New York City has extended its Big Apple Connect program for another three years, continuing to offer free internet and cable service to residents in public housing. Since its launch in 2022, the program has already connected more than 150,000 households.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday.
For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.

Why geography matters in emergency messaging

Diversity, equity and inclusion are dirty words in Trump’s America, and though many private companies and government agencies have rebranded such efforts in 2025, equity lives on in New York City. Digital Inclusion Week is underway in New York, where Paolo Balboa, the city’s first chief digital equity officer says “call it what you will,” but equity work is progressing. On StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast, Balboa shares numerous efforts by the city government, including Big Apple Connect, just one piece of the city’s Digital Equity Roadmap, which provides free internet and cable service — “a basic commodity for existing today” — to public housing residents. “Digital equity is all about getting residents and communities to a place where they can use and navigate the internet confidently, so that they can fully participate in society, democracy and the economy,” Balboa says. When asked to describe his role, which the city created last March, Balboa says it boils down to finding the organizations already doing equity work and trying to partner with them.
This week’s top stories:

Oklahoma has named a new chief information security officer. Daniel Langley, who most recently served in Washington state’s information technology bureau, has taken the role. He also served as CISO of the Washington state lottery and spent almost a decade with the U.S. Army, where he finished as a captain in the Signal Corps.

Following an expansion of efforts to bolster digital equity across the five boroughs, New York City’s Office of Technology and Innovation on Monday kicked off its Digital Inclusion Week. The event is part of a national collection of events co-hosted by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance designed to raise awareness.

While more states are embracing data-driven governance, many chief data officers still struggle with limited resources and weak institutional power, according to a recent survey of state CDOs. Most state CDO offices operate with budgets of less than $1 million and manage small teams, yet are expected to coordinate data strategies across agencies, according to a report from NASCIO and the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.

Inside NYC's Digital Inclusion Week

Doug Robinson, executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, joins the Priorities Podcast this week to explain why “uncertainty” is the word of the year for state technology leaders. “That has a lot to do with obviously the states’ fiscal conditions and uncertainty there, federal funding uncertainty, and just the turbulence in terms of just overall relationship with the federal government,” Robinson says. As in previous years, the report covers a wide gamut of issues, including generative artificial intelligence, digital accessibility, IT budgets, could adoption and the provision of services to local governments.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.

‘Uncertainty’ is the word of the year for state CIOs

Each Wednesday, StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast explores the latest in state and local government technology news and analysis. Listen to in-depth conversations with government and industry’s top executives, and learn about trending stories affecting state and local IT leaders ranging from modernization and digital accessibility to the latest advances in generative artificial intelligence.