A learning program for notaries in Indiana was not getting good reviews. Robert Fulk, the chief information officer for the Indiana Secretary of State’s office said people thought it was outdated, long, repetitive and clunky. And it was, until his office redesigned it from top to bottom using AI. Artificial intelligence is now infused into every aspect of the program, from its instructional content to its audio and video assets. “It’s really engaging for the learners,” Fulk says on the latest Priorities Podcast. Also joining this episode is Patrick Carter, vice president of state practice at Results for America, who says that more states than ever are using evidence-based decisionmaking in their budgets. It’s catching on in other areas, too, he says, but it’s still a relatively unused practice. Budget downturns and declining state revenues could turn that around, though. That, and the practice’s increased body of knowledge and winning examples. “We’ve learned lots of lessons from governments over the last 10-20 years about what works,” Carter says. Top stories this week: The Rockefeller Foundation and the nonprofit Center for Civic Futures on Tuesday unveiled a new effort, called the AI Readiness Project, aimed at preparing state governments to use artificial intelligence tools to improve how they administer services to the public. The Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University is also ramping up its efforts to support AI work in state and local governments. Andrew Merluzzi, who’s serving as its new AI innovation and incubation fellow, said he thinks the recent years of groundwork are finally beginning to bear fruit. The Federal Communications Commission last week voted to approve an order that will roll back caps on phone and video calls to and from prisons and jails. Some rates are expected to double. 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.

Star Wars and disco were hip when Kansas built its previous unemployment insurance system and it was “sufficient,” Kansas Labor Secretary Amber Shultz says. But on the latest episode of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast, Shultz describes how, over the course of two years, the state transformed that system into a modern one, with a modern user interface. A system that had to be taken offline constantly — “a house of cards” — has been replaced by one that has nearly perfect uptime, she says. “Our contact center representatives, they couldn’t use a mouse, and they had to memorize all these hundreds of weird shortcodes for abbreviation back in those days, and then the code was not documented,” she says. Today, the state heralds a different story, one in which call centers see 60% fewer calls and processing time has been reduced by 80%. Top stories this week: New York City this week announced a new pilot program that integrates a new emergency alert system with the city’s public schools. The system, which leaders claim is the first of its kind in the United States, provides an automated method of contacting 911 in the event of active shooter scenarios or other threats. As the federal government shutdown stretches on, state agencies are grappling with technical, financial and policy adjustments following a federal directive to pause processing of SNAP benefits next month. Nearly all states and territories have submitted their final proposals to the federal government detailing how they plan to spend their allotments of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Given recent adjustments to how the program is administered, though, the current proposals could leave roughly half of the program’s $42 billion unspent. 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.

Ratna Dougherty, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida’s Public Affairs school, joins the Priorities Podcast to explain how the government shutdown is affecting disaster relief efforts. One change, Dougherty says, is that state and local governments face a more complex process in applying to receive support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There could be other challenges, too. “Because of a lack of appropriations, as funds are being spent down, there’s no replenishing of those funds if those are necessary,” she says. This week’s top stories: New Jersey’s Office of Innovation has published a guide designed to help governments build and use generative artificial intelligence tools. The guide contains nine tips, informed by the experiences of developers and IT leaders at the New Jersey state government. San Jose, Calif., has developed a reputation as a career “launchpad,” according to Stephen Caines, the city’s chief innovation officer, but he and others in City Hall want to change that. The city is seeking a vendor to create a new platform that would provide city staff with the ability to create their own digital helpers, and hopefully avoid feelings of burn out. The office of Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Friday announced a new webpage as part of the state’s “Operation No Return” initiative, in which immigrants with illegal statuses who were convicted of serious crimes are transferred from county jails into federal custody for deportation after they’ve completed their sentences. The new webpage displays the names, mugshots, offenses and countries of origin of those transferred to federal authorities. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Homelessness Prevention Unit in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, is seeing signs of success in reducing the homelessness in the county. Launched in 2021, the program uses a predictive model, developed by the California Policy Lab, to proactively reach people at the highest risk of becoming homeless and connect them to stabilizing services before they lose their housing. Dana Vanderford, Associate Director of the HPU, tells the Priorities Podcast that the program uses 580 data points from various agencies to identify individuals at risk of losing housing within the next 12 months. This week’s top stories: The Department of Homeland Security last week published the notice of funding opportunity for the fourth and final year of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Among the details explaining the latest round of funding for the $1 billion program is a stipulation that grantees may not spend their funds on services provided by 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 software and other resources at free or heavily discounted rates. As states conduct an additional round of bidding mandated by last month’s changes to the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, initial data shows that SpaceX’s Starlink and other low Earth orbit satellite internet service providers are bidding big for the funds on projects — and they could win millions over fiber providers. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a bill into law banning the use of artificial intelligence from providing mental health services, aiming to protect residents from potentially harmful advice. Known as the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, the law prohibits AI systems from delivering therapeutic treatment or making clinical decisions. 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.

This week’s Priorities Podcast is joined by Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who explains why he’s concerned about an AI-powered tool being adopted by police departments. The tool is Axon's Draft One, which pulls audio from body cam footage to help officers draft police reports. Following a recent investigation into how the technology works, Guariglia claims it was designed without transparency and auditing safeguards that he says ought to be present. He said he’s especially concerned by the window of plausible deniability the technology opens, providing no way for the public to discern between text written by human officers and that generated by software. This week’s top stories: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday activated the state National Guard to help respond to a cyberattack on the state’s capital city. According to an announcement by Walz’s office, the National Guard’s help was needed because an ongoing cyberattack against St. Paul was larger and more complex than city staff were able to handle. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter called the attack a "deliberate, coordinated digital attack carried out by a sophisticated external actor." Two local governments in Kansas and Nebraska are using GIS, artificial intelligence and lidar to fix accessibility issues with their curb ramps and sidewalks. The technology, which is helping the cities find and fix infrastructure that might not be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, helped save over 1,000 hours of manual labor. Delaware’s Department of Technology and Information adopted a policy this month that outlines how and when state employees can use generative artificial intelligence tools, and permits them to use many public and enterprise AI models, but not ones considered to be potentially malicious, like DeepSeek. 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.

On this week's Priorities Podcast, we're joined by Center for Humane Technology's Pete Furlong and Transparency Coalition.ai's Rob Eleveld to discuss the impacts of AI companion chat bots. As AI companion chatbots become more sophisticated and accessible, so do the risks—especially for children. Hear this conversation covering what policymakers, parents, and the tech industry need to know now to protect vulnerable users. :studio_microphone: Full episode at the link in our bio #AIethics #OnlineSafety #ChildProtection #TechPolicy #DigitalWellness #ResponsibleAI #AIforGood #CenterForHumaneTechnology #TransparencyCoalition #ArtificialIntelligence #TechRegulation

This week we’re joined by North Carolina Chief Information Officer Teena Piccione, and Bernice Russell-Bond, the state’s chief information security officer. They share details of an upcoming cybersecurity internship program hoped to create a pipeline of talent for the state government. Starting next August, 10 college students will get a chance to work for the state as part-time interns, learning on the job as they perform a broad range of cybersecurity tasks. Russell-Bond says the program will give students exposure to “all aspects of cyber,” while providing the state a reliable source of fresh talent. This week’s top stories: A pilot project in Virginia is using agentic AI to slim down the commonwealth’s regulations. State agencies are being directed to use artificial intelligence to achieve a statewide goal of reducing regulations by 25%. A new study from The Pew Charitable Trusts shows that federal broadband data used by states has several key shortcomings that should be remediated. Researchers found that broadband data is unreliable and inconsistent, making it difficult for states to plan their infrastructure buildouts. A new report from the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice found that 61% of local election officials are concerned about the cuts to election security services made this year by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Eighty-seven percent said they think state and local governments need to step up to fill the gap. 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.

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.

Just in time for another hot California summer, the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment this year launched CalHeatScore, a data-powered tool that’s designed to help local governments and their constituencies better prepare for levels of heat that can become health hazards. On this week’s Priorities Podcast, Walker Wieland, manager of the office’s Extreme Heat Ranking System Development Section, says that heat affects everyone, but it especially affects groups like low-income populations, the elderly and people who live in cities, who must suffer the urban heat island effect. “Extreme heat really disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations throughout California,” Wieland says. “Some examples are the very young, older adults, those that work outside for a living, those with preexisting chronic health conditions. These are the people that are most commonly more sensitive to extreme heat and ultimately end up in the emergency room.” He explains how the tool can be used by members of the public to plan their summer schedules, but also by communities to guide policies, such as the opening of additional cooling or respite centers. This week’s top stories: The Senate voted Tuesday to remove from the federal budget bill a proposed moratorium on states enforcing their own artificial intelligence laws. The ban that was championed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., lost virtually all support before the vote. The defeat is being celebrated by states and advocacy groups as a win for state sovereignty. The Supreme Court last week ruled to protect the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone and internet services in rural areas and schools through a number of programs, including the E-Rate program. The fund collects billions in fees from telecommunications services and users each year to support rural broadband networks, internet for health care centers and low-income households. Taking a page from President Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week signed a bill establishing a $10 million store of cryptocurrencies that lawmakers said will position the state for economic prosperity. Two other states — Arizona and New Hampshire — have passed legislation to create their own crypto reserves, but Texas is the first to fund one with state dollars. One expert, though, told StateScoop the fund’s small size makes the move largely symbolic. 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.

On this week’s Priorities Podcast, the StateScoop team breaks down what the recent cancellation of the Digital Equity Act will mean for states and communities that were expecting the funding to improve connectivity, access to devices and digital skills training. Keely Quinlan explains that a recent letter — signed by 156 people representing the 140 organizations that serve communities across 39 states — asks for it to be reinstated. And StateScoop reporter Sophia Fox-Sowell offers a preview of her reporting on food banks and their use of state data. Data is important for their efforts, she explains, but access is uneven. Top stories this week: State and local governments overseeing populations of at least 50,000 people have 10 months remaining to comply with new accessibility rules, to ensure that people with disabilities of all sorts can find information and use services. Code for America has developed an AI-powered tool that helps them get organized. So far it’s being used by Salt Lake City, Utah, and the State of Georgia. A new report from the emergency tech firm Carbyne paints a troubling picture of the nation’s 911 system, highlighting a growing wave of outages and cyberattacks, along with an outdated infrastructure that threatens public safety. It shows that nearly 90% of emergency communication centers across the U.S. experienced at least one system outage in the past year caused by aging equipment or cyberattacks. In a letter last week to Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick and Adam Cassady, acting administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, more than 140 state and local organizations asked for the Digital Equity Act to be reinstated. The letter claims the act’s cancellation could leave residents and some businesses behind on issues of economic opportunity, education, health care and online safety. 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.