State cyber grant push
NASCIO urged Congress to allocate $300 million to the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program to bolster local cyber capacity. The request highlights continued lobbying for federal support of state and local cybersecurity efforts. (glsolutions.com)
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers asked Congress on April 13 to put $300 million into the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program for fiscal year 2027. (nascio.org) The request went to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, addressed to Chair Katie Britt and Ranking Member Chris Murphy. NASCIO Executive Director Doug Robinson wrote that the funding level already has bipartisan backing. (nascio.org) The grant program sends federal money to states, local governments and territories to reduce cyber risks in public systems. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says fiscal year 2025 funding totaled $91.75 million. (fema.gov) Congress created the program through the 2021 infrastructure law with $1 billion spread across four years. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says the program launched in September 2022 as the first federal cyber grant program built specifically for state, local, tribal and territorial governments. (cisa.gov) NASCIO is pressing now because the original four-year funding stream is ending and the group has also been lobbying for a longer-term reauthorization. In September 2025, NASCIO and seven other state and local associations urged congressional leaders to renew the program and pair that renewal with new appropriations. (nascio.org) The association has argued for months that the money is reaching gaps that many cities and counties cannot cover on their own. In testimony last year, NASCIO said the grants were helping states fix critical vulnerabilities and help local communities strengthen cyber defenses. (nascio.org) Federal auditors have also found the program is producing projects on the ground, though not every state had drawn money at the same pace. The Government Accountability Office reported that, as of August 1, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security had provided about $172 million to 33 states and territories for 839 cybersecurity projects. (gao.gov) NASCIO’s own 2026 advocacy brief says the grants require a state match that rises by 10 percentage points each year. The group says that design is meant to push states to build permanent cybersecurity line items into their own budgets instead of relying on one-time federal aid. (nascio.org) Congress now has two linked decisions in front of it: whether to keep the program alive and how much to spend on the next round. NASCIO is asking lawmakers to answer both with a larger check than the $91.75 million provided for fiscal year 2025. (nascio.org)
