Two Pennsylvania state employees explain on this week’s Priorities Podcast how they’re accelerating the time it takes to hire new employees. Miranda Martin, director of talent management, and Harrison MacRae, director of emerging technologies, said that through a combination of process changes and technology, they’ve reduced time-to-hire from 90 days to 58 days. “Three months is just too long to compete for talent, so we got to work right away and looked at our processes and procedures and worked really hard to reduce that time,” Martin said. The state also used its ChatGPT Enterprise licenses to ensure that agencies were properly aligning their hiring needs with job classifications.

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Washington state’s technology bureau has partnered with the University of California, Berkeley to better understand how nonprofits in the state may be exposed to cybersecurity risks. Bill Kehoe, Washington’s chief information officer, said protecting nonprofits ensures that the public will get the best from their state and local governments.

Kentucky’s acting chief information officer, Jim Barnhart, has been promoted to lead the commonwealth’s Office of Technology as its statewide CIO. The promotion comes after Barnhart spent nearly two decades serving as the state’s deputy CIO.

And Maine lawmakers last week urged the Trump administration to unfreeze Digital Equity Act funds that they say are essential for the state’s future. Led by Republican Sen. Susan Collins, the group said that the rural state was depending on the $35 million it was set to receive to improve access to technology and skills training.

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.

Code For America CEO Amanda Renteria joins StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast this week to offer a preview of the organization’s 2025 Summit, scheduled for May 29-30 in Washington, D.C. Renteria says the event will include talks on human-centered design, the latest uses of artificial intelligence in state and local government and how agencies are driving efficiency under a new U.S. president. “When did technology really change in government? It’s happening right now. The conversations that are going to happen at Summit are really putting those seeds in place for what technology in government is going to look like a generation from now.”

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is asking governors to build sensitive compartmented information facilities and carry satellite phones when they travel. The recommendation baffled cybersecurity and national security experts contacted by StateScop.

Business is booming for Civic Match, a service that launched last November, to connect outgoing federal employees with jobs in state and local government. The program announced it’s expanding by creating new partnerships and adding features after its early success.

And a letter signed by a group of 40 state attorneys general on Friday asked Congress to reject a federal measure that would bar states from enforcing their own AI laws for the next 10 years.

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 Talita Elizeu, director of partnerships at Govern for America, and Cara Eckholm, the nonprofit’s research director. Elizeu and Eckholm say that a recent report published by the group provides valuable tips for states still early in their adoption of artificial intelligence policies. The report, which includes insights gathered from technology workers in at least 11 states, was itself guided in part by ChatGPT, which the authors used as part of their research into which states have created AI task forces or chief AI officers. “States have a common set of services they offer regardless of where they sit in our very diverse country, and I think there’s a lot states that are just starting on their AI strategy development today can learn from those states that are now two years into it,” Eckholm says.

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Indiana state agencies on Tuesday warned residents to delete phony emails sent using official state government email addresses. Phishing emails emanating from numerous departments fraudulently informed recipients of unpaid toll fees and warned of financial penalties or vehicle registration holds if they refused to pay.

In a message shared on Truth Social, President Donald Trump last week vowed to end the “unconstitutional” Digital Equity Act, which provides states with funding through a set of programs intended to close the digital divide. The act was enabled by the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, under the watch of former President Joe Biden.

Nevada lawmakers are considering legislation that would create a statewide security operations center, offering school districts, local governments and other public offices in the Silver State greater access to cybersecurity services and products.

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 Long Island Sound sector of the U.S. Coast Guard last month announced Aqua Alert, a new pilot program to notify the public about maritime emergencies and provide real-time information to aid search and rescue efforts on the water. Joshua Smarzo, a Coast Guard lieutenant and command center sector chief, tells the Priorities Podcast the new program will help meet the challenges of managing search and rescue operations, especially during the summer boating season. Smarzo says it will be critical to test the system to avoid unnecessary alerts and ensure effective communication with 911 centers.

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Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday issued a disaster declaration for Marlin, Texas, in response to a failure of the city’s water treatment system.

Maryland’s technology department on Monday announced it’s hired James Saunders, a former federal technology official, to serve as its new chief information security officer.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday vetoed legislation that would have placed as much as 10% of the state’s funds in cryptocurrency. In a letter Friday to Warren Petersen, the Republican president of the Arizona Senate, Hobbs dismissed the idea.

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, Kern County, California, Deputy Fire Chief Zachary Wells and Ryan Lanclos, director of national government and public safety solutions at Esri,​ say ALERTCalifornia's new map layer strengthens emergency management and improves community safety. The wildfire-monitoring program from University of California San Diego​ provides instant access to live camera feeds across ​California, aiding in early fire detection and speeding up emergency response. Wells said the new map layer, which displays each camera’s location and image feed, is helping to shift firefighting from reactive to proactive​. "The state of California is extremely large. Each county is big, and we only have so many firefighters​, engines, hand crews, helicopters ​and air tankers.​ So adopting tools like ​ALERTCalifornia gives you that confidence that you have the resources​ strategically placed," Wells says.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week signed legislation making his state the latest to launch an agency modeled after the federal Department of Government Efficiency. The new law created the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, which will receive $22.8 million in funding over the next five years.

A new study from the University of Michigan found that law enforcement agencies are wary of using AI tools in policing. Of 1,800 local governments surveyed, 55% said they were unsure if automated assessments were as accurate as ones made by humans.

The startup company behind Jobright.ai last week launched a new jobs website designed to help experienced public servants quickly find new positions. The website, GovJobs.fyi, includes more than 11,000 job listings across all levels of government, nonprofits and private companies.

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, Kern County, California, Deputy Fire Chief Zachary Wells and Ryan Lanclos, director of national government and public safety solutions at Esri,​ say ALERTCalifornia's new map layer strengthens emergency management and improves community safety. The wildfire-monitoring program from University of California San Diego​ provides instant access to live camera feeds across ​California, aiding in early fire detection and speeding up emergency response. Wells said the new map layer, which displays each camera’s location and image feed, is helping to shift firefighting from reactive to proactive​. "The state of California is extremely large. Each county is big, and we only have so many firefighters​, engines, hand crews, helicopters ​and air tankers.​ So adopting tools like ​ALERTCalifornia gives you that confidence that you have the resources​ strategically placed," Wells says.

Top stories this week:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week signed legislation making his state the latest to launch an agency modeled after the federal Department of Government Efficiency. The new law created the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, which will receive $22.8 million in funding over the next five years.

A new study from the University of Michigan found that law enforcement agencies are wary of using AI tools in policing. Of 1,800 local governments surveyed, 55% said they were unsure if automated assessments were as accurate as ones made by humans.

The startup company behind Jobright.ai last week launched a new jobs website designed to help experienced public servants quickly find new positions. The website, GovJobs.fyi, includes more than 11,000 job listings across all levels of government, nonprofits and private companies.

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.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong recently recommended that the state’s lawmakers strengthen a statewide privacy law enacted two years ago, including by sending “warning letters” to violators and investigating consumer complaints. Kara Williams, law fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, joins the Priorities Podcast to share why she thinks Connecticut’s law is weak in some respects, but that changes could create a “cascading effect” that leads other states to strengthen their data privacy laws or create new ones. "It’s encouraging to see that the AG advocates for this strong data minimization framework,” she says, “but it’s also great to see that some of these principles are included in [a proposed] update bill. … It's not really an option to sit and wait for the federal government to act on privacy.”

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The National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Tuesday notified states that they’ve been granted a 90-day extension to submit their final spending proposals for the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.

Like most large government organizations, Oklahoma has for years been using various AI tools and machine learning models to trawl endless network logs for abnormal activity. After several years of using network monitoring software from the British firm Darktrace in “human confirmation mode,” Oklahoma last year allowed the company’s “Cyber AI Analyst” product to make decisions on its own.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Monday launched a WhatsApp channel, with an English and Spanish language option, aimed at providing residents with updates on state news, services and initiatives.

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 Mark Lindeman, the policy and strategy director of election nonprofit group Verified Voting, to discuss the final passage of a piece of legislation in Maryland that would require the state to conduct a post-election, risk-limiting audit process after each statewide election.

The legislation also allows for the audits, which Lindeman’s organization says are highly effective methods to ensure correct election results and increase public trust in elections, to be done via an automated software after a statewide election. But Lindeman tells StateScoop that with software audits, “it's important to go beyond the software. It's important to get human eyes on the ballots and to have a check that doesn't depend on the software working correctly.”

Carlos Kizzee, the senior vice president of MS-ISAC strategy and plans at Center for Internet Security, joins the Priorities Podcast to share how the group’s recent funding cuts are affecting operations and how it might affect the group’s future. Kizzee says the claims that the MS-ISAC’s services are duplicated by those offered by federal agencies are “not necessarily true.” He also points to a recent poll of its membership, showing that 95% believed elimination of the group’s services would have a negative effect on their cybersecurity.

This week’s top stories:

California on Wednesday announced it had opened applications for $50 million in digital equity grants. This is one day after the Trump administration confirmed it had frozen funding for $2.7 billion in digital equity funding approved under the Biden administration. One broadband analyst told StateScoop the move is political and will slow down deployment.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker on Tuesday unveiled a new data dashboard that displays progress on the city’s housing restoration and modification initiatives. The tool is designed to show the public how the mayor is doing on meeting her goal of restoring 30,000 city housing units.

And New Jersey last week joined the many other states to have passed laws criminalizing the production or dissemination of deepfakes. Upon signing the new legislation, Gov. Phil Murphy said AI is a “powerful tool” that must be used responsibly.

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 Robert Fulk, chief information officer of the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office, to talk about the work behind “Captain Record,” the state’s newest generative artificial intelligence tool. It allows users to search more than 100 years’ worth of state documents, and by intelligently indexing over 20 million unstructured records, including some that were handwritten, Captain Record has transformed the latent documents into a treasure trove of data.

This week’s top stories:

A new report from Alabama's AI task force found that generative artificial intelligence is being used by nearly a quarter of state agencies and for a variety of use cases, including text generation, language translation, software code development and complex problem-solving.

The Florida Senate is considering a bill that would — for at least the fifth time in recent years — yet again reorganize the state’s technology bureau. And despite the enormity of the state’s IT problems and the hurdles that must be overcome to fix the “absolute unmitigated tire fire,” some current and former state officials, including Former Florida Chief Information Officer Jamie Grant, think this one might stick.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun on Friday announced that Warren Lenard, a private sector tech executive, will take over as the state’s new chief information officer and director of Indiana’s Office of Technology. He fills the vacancy left by Tracy Barnes, who stepped down in January.

Scoop News Group has announced the winners of the 2025 StateScoop 50 Awards! This year’s awards recognize leaders and projects from 21 states, along with executives from 13 companies. See who won.

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.