State, local cyber grants would get extension in shutdown deal

The Senate’s approval Monday of a funding package that would reopen the government would also extend authorization of the well-reviewed State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program.

The deal, which would fund government operations until Jan. 30, mostly at the same rates, including food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and also ensure backpay for furloughed federal workers, has reportedly left few entirely satisfied. Democrats did not achieve a resolution on the expiring health care tax credits that prompted the shutdown, and must wait until next month to continue that debate, but the continuation of the cyber grants, along with an extension of the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, is a bright spot for state technology leaders who’ve relied on the vitality of both programs as they’ve sought to defend their IT systems.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers, a group that represents state governments’ top technology officials, noted in a statement Tuesday that the inclusion of both cyber programs in the House funding bill “demonstrates that Congress is indeed taking this issue seriously,” the issue being cybersecurity.

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