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September 07, 2024

Links to selected items focusing on government operations posted on the Internet during the week ending September 6, 2024

 Click on the text highlighted in color to access the item posted on the Internet.

AI - A recent report by Sui Generis, a New York Law Blog, notes the posting of a Practical and Adaptable AI Guidance on the Internet by the Virginia State Bar.  Concerned about the ethical issues surrounding artificial intelligence? Read the whole entry

All 170 South Carolina Legislative Seats Are Up for Election There are no statewide candidates in South Carolina this year, allowing the state’s two major parties to focus on local races. Seventeen of the 170 legislative district races will be especially competitive. READ MORE

As AI Gains Ground, Security Leaders Need to Embrace Saying Yes Cybersecurity chiefs are often viewed as inhibitors of innovation who are likely to veto new ideas in the interest of keeping systems safe. But as agencies increasingly lean on AI, CISOs must find a way to get to "yes." READ MORE

AWS is Helping Small and Mid-Sized Government Agencies Modernize with Cloud Discover actionable guidance and best practices on how to respond stronger and faster to serve your constituents more effectively—together with CrowdStrike, Esri, and Tyler Technologies. LEARN MORE

California Bill That Could Change School Funding Awaits Governor’s Signature California is one of seven states that fund schools based on average daily attendance instead of how many students are registered for the year. But that could change if proposed legislation gets Gov. Newsom’s signature. READ MORE

 California State Assembly Passes AI Regulation Bill The bill would compel AI companies to take measures to protect the public from cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, and prevent AI from developing weapons or enabling automated crime. READ MORE

California’s Largest Pedestrian Project Becomes Contentious Fight San Francisco residents will vote in November on whether they want to permanently close two miles of coastline road from cars, which, if passed, will become a historic pedestrian project. But the city is deeply divided on the project’s impacts. READ MORE

Can the Federal Login.gov Find More State and City Users? The General Services Administration wants to sign up more state and local agencies to its authentication program, used to access benefits, transit discounts and more. New pricing could help with that effort. READ MORE 

Comprehensive Guide for Communicating During a Disaster Share this safety education information with your community throughout the year to keep disaster awareness top-of-mind. READ THE eBOOK

Digital Curb Data Deepens Understanding of Urban Activity Cities around the nation are taking on projects to gather and analyze vast amounts of digital data points related to curb usage. This can enable new forms of delivery and dynamic parking prices. READ MORE

Eliminate Paperwork and Cultivate Trust in Corrections Agencies Administrative burdens in corrections agencies -- including bureaucracy, confusing paperwork and complex compliance requirements -- can burn out staff and erode public trust. A modern document management platform eases the strains on corrections agencies by digitizing documents, reducing paperwork and automating processes. Download the full report to learn more about the features and opportunities available with a document management platform. DOWNLOAD

Essential Communication Solutions for Local Governments This white paper from CivicPlus provides local government communicators with strategies to manage resident communications effectively. It outlines the importance of using various systems and channels to address diverse resident needs, from routine inquiries to emergency notifications. By leveraging technology, public communicators can automate responses, triage impact, and ensure timely, personalized interactions, ultimately enhancing community trust and satisfaction. DOWNLOAD

Five Steps to Take to Adopt AI The Roadmap for Government AI Adoption outlines five actionable steps you can take to responsibly benefit from AI in your government organization. Download the Roadmap »

Four Questions to Ask Yourself When Considering Sending an Emergency or a Routine Warning The first crucial distinction in a mass communication strategy is understanding the difference between emergency and routine alerts. CLICK FOR INFOGRAPHIC

Government Leader’s Guide to Meeting Website Accessibility and Compliance Requirements Ensure your government website meets ADA standards to avoid non-compliance fines and better serve residents; learn more in our white paper on ADA and Section 508 requirements. DOWNLOAD GUIDE

Growing Number of E-Bikes Across New York Sparks Safety Concerns Sales of e-bikes in the U.S. grew more than 280 percent from 2019 to 2022. However, from 2017 to 2022, there have also been 233 deaths associated with e-bikes, e-scooters and hoverboards. READ MORE 

How a Pandemic-Era Surge in Tax Collections Drove a Revenue Wave Revenue growth over three years outpaced earlier trends and fueled new spending, but has since pulled back. What does it mean for the future of state budgets? READ MORE

How Education Technology Companies Pitch AI to Teachers A top concern among educators remains that when students use AI to write essays or come up with ideas for projects, they miss out on the hard and focused thinking that builds creative reasoning skills. READ MORE

How Local Election Officials Can Prepare for the Risks of AI  Deepfake images and videos are just one way AI could disrupt the upcoming election. Experts are highlighting risks that could cause bigger problems and helping election officials prepare for them. READ MORE

How San Antonio Plans to Fix 51,000 Missed Trash Pickups The city’s Solid Waste Management estimates that it receives thousands of complaints about missed trash pickups. But officials have a $6 million plan that could fix the problem. READ MORE 

How States Gamed Billions from Medicaid As they expanded eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, some skirted the law by misclassifying new enrollees to maximize revenue from Washington while doing little to help those who need care. It will take federal legislation to end this behavior. READ MORE

How the Cloud Rescued California’s Health Exchange Covered California delivers health insurance to state residents via the exchange it created in 2012. In 2020, the agency’s consumer-facing platform, CalHEERS, struggled to keep up with a historic spike in enrollments during COVID-19. This forced agency CIO Kevin Cornish to act quickly and decisively. In this Q&A, Cornish explains how the cloud has made his agency’s IT system more responsive and resilient. READ MORE

How the Cloud Transformed Covered California’s Healthcare Platform Covered California's shift to the cloud eliminated outages and boosted scalability during the pandemic, ensuring seamless service for over 1.75 million residents. Learn how AWS and Deloitte played a crucial role in this transformation. READ MORE

Improved UX, Processes Part of Jeff Clines’ Legacy in S.D. Outgoing South Dakota CIO Jeff Clines prioritized process improvement and user experience during his four years as technology leader. Now, he will leverage what he learned in his new role as Wyoming CIO. READ MORE

Is Your Organization Ready for the Big Event? Premium IMS Tools for Sporting Events/Mass Gatherings CONTINUE READING

L.A. County Makes Longtime Acting CIO Peter Loo Permanent Loo, who has more than 30 years’ experience in public-sector IT, previously led implementation of a shared portal infrastructure program for the county. He was appointed acting CIO in 2021 after the departure of CIO Bill Kehoe. READ MORE

Louisiana Still Has a Flawed Process for Prisoner Releases The Legislative Auditor has found that the state does not have an adequate review process to ensure changes to prisoners’ release dates are accurately calculated. This is the fourth time an audit has made such findings. READ MORE

Maine Utilities Can No Longer Spend Ratepayer Money on Politics The new rules will ban utilities from billing ratepayers for contributions or gifts to political candidates, political parties and political or legislative committees, or to a trade association, chamber of commerce or public charity and more. READ MORE

Make Data Your Generative AI Differentiator Learn how to build the right data strategy that gives you a strategic advantage with generative artificial intelligence (AI). DOWNLOAD NOW

Managing Rental Assistance on the Cloud Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority launches a cloud platform that gets ERAP funding to the people who need it most. READ MORE

Mandatory Cyber Training for Staff in Rogers County, Okla. The Rogers County Commission agreed Monday to move ahead on a proposed cybersecurity training course for all county employees. Their decision followed a presentation from the IT director of Claremore on similar training for city workers. READ MORE 

Marin County, Calif., Schools Consider Use of AI Educators at both the county and the college level are rapidly getting up to speed on AI issues such as legal disclaimers, parental permissions, policies, precautions and potential uses. READ MORE

Maryland State Officials Take Cautious Approach to AI Due to questions about what the software ultimately does with the information that’s inputted, Maryland officials say they are approaching the emerging technology with extreme caution. READ MORE

Maryland to Cut $1.3B from Transportation Budget to Address Shortfall The cuts from the roughly $20 billion, six-year transit plan would defer some maintenance projects, delay the transition to fully electric state-run buses and pause the development of other initiatives. READ MORE

Mass Killing of PNW Barred Owls May Begin This Spring As many as 450,000 barred owls could be killed across three Pacific Northwest states over the next 30 years to prevent the extinction of another type of owl. The program aims to kill less than 1 percent of the current barred owl population. READ MORE

Miami Beach Apologizes for Posting Residents’ Personal Data About 10,000 records related to utility billing that contained residents’ unredacted personal information may have been publicly available on the city’s website for decades. The data was removed hours after it was discovered. READ MORE

Michigan Cybersecurity Briefing: A Lightning Round with Jayson Cavendish Join us for a virtual webinar with Chief Security Officer Jayson Cavendish as we explore the challenges and trends shaping Michigan’s cybersecurity landscape. Join us for a live Q&A, offering actionable insights to enhance collaboration and identify growth opportunities for your business. Don’t miss out! REGISTER NOW

New CivStart Cohort Will Focus on AI in Local Government The nonprofit's new edition of its accelerator program will include 16 startups, and will be run in partnership with the National League of Cities and the GovAI Coalition. Its mission: to help implement and scale AI at the local level. READ MORE


New Software Aims to Revamp the Police Background Check NEOGOV, the HR, payroll and onboarding tech provider, wants to make it easier and more efficient for law enforcement to vet job candidates — and it’s hit the market with a new product launch to do so. READ MORE

Of Course EMS Is an Essential Service. States Need to Make That Official. Designating them by law would go a long way toward addressing the many issues these critical services face. They have evolved over decades to encompass a multitude of responsibilities. READ MORE

Philly Police Misconduct Lawsuits Have Cost $60M in 18 Months In 2020 and 2022, annual spending on the issue didn’t exceed $7 million and between 2013 and 2017, Philly spent an average of $9 the million annually to settle police misconduct cases. But misconduct spending has since skyrocketed. READ MORE

Remote Court Appearances Continue in Deschutes County, Ore. Before the pandemic, most court proceedings took place in person at the Deschutes County courthouse. While remote court appearances improve efficiency, some argue that for serious crimes there are clear disadvantages. READ MORE

Safety Concerns Follow E-Bikes’ Popularity in New York Two recent cycling deaths in the western part of the state have prompted police to focus on educating riders, drivers and pedestrians on laws governing electric bicycles. Advocates say safety precautions are everyone’s responsibility. READ MORE

Secure Our World: Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 We are one month away from the start of the annual Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October. Here are resources, themes, toolkits and much more to help your organization prepare. READ MORE

Securing All of Government Takes a Whole-of-Country Approach In the September/October issue of Government Technology, we look at the current cybersecurity landscape as state and local governments work to boost their defenses. READ MORE

Smart Collection Could Improve San Antonio Trash Pickup Officials estimate they’ll get 51,000 complaints this year about missed trash pickups — but that could change. The City Council on Thursday approved a $6 million, five-year contract for tablets and software to fix the problem. READ MORE

South Dakota Governor Appoints New CTO to Serve as CIO Madhu Gottumukkala, who recently came on board as South Dakota’s chief technology officer, has now been named state CIO and commissioner of the state Bureau of Information and Telecommunications. His first day is Monday. READ MORE

St. Helena, Calif., Cyber Attack Compromises Data of Nearly 1,000  The breach stems from a cyber attack that accessed at least 20 computers and a city server, leading to a temporary shutdown of all affected services. The city has notified those affected. READ MORE 

Testing the accuracy scanners, scales and devices used to price, weigh or measure goods at retail market establishments. Making sure that consumers were paying the correct price On September 4, 2024, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said "10 counties in New York State did not adequately test the accuracy of retail prices or test scanners, scales and devices used to price, weigh or measure goods at grocery stores, gas stations and other retail locations to make sure that consumers were paying the correct price". Click here to access the Comptroller's audit.

Texas Gives Initial Approval for $5.4B Gas Power Plants Loan In 2023 the state created the Texas Energy Fund to finance about 10 gigawatts of electric generation capacity in hopes of reducing strain on the ERCOT power grid. Regulators approved 17 companies to receive loans if their projects are viable. READ MORE 

Texas Grid Operator Calls New EPA Rules ‘Handcuffs’ Amid Growing Demand If San Antonio does not reduce its emissions production by Sept. 24, the city may face the possibility of having its ozone pollution status upped to “serious,” which could limit how often natural gas-powered plants are run. READ MORE

The CA Department of Motor Vehicles Scales Service, Drives Innovation See how automating workflows & re-platforming infrastructure helps teams serve more people faster. LEARN MORE

The High Price Some Families Pay in Fines and Fees Fines and fees are common throughout the criminal justice system, but they can strain the finances of families already experiencing instability and widen income and racial disparities. READ MORE

The Never-Ending Impulse to Build New Towns They’re a constant in urban history, typically launching with excitement but achieving modest results. That doesn’t stop the enthusiasts from dreaming. READ MORE 

The Real Reason Local Governments Are Facing More ADA Non-Compliance Fines Perceived redesign costs, unknowledgeable website design partners, and limited maintenance resources are holding too many municipalities back from ADA compliance. LEARN MORE

The Three Building Blocks of AI Applications Generative AI can help your organization do more with less. Increase productivity and improve service quality by building and modernizing AI applications. Learn the 3 Building Blocks of Intelligent Apps »

Three Ways to Boost Cybersecurity Defenses With Limited Resources Government agencies are tasked with protecting their networks from increasingly destructive cyber attacks, but often have limited funding, staffing and guidance to do so. Proactive strategies can make a big difference. READ MORE 

U.S. Credit Card Debt Rises as Housing and Other Costs Remain High Total credit card balances have risen 5.8 percent from a year ago as Americans struggle to keep up with high living costs. READ MORE 

Unique Grant to Reduce Flooding, Rebuild Louisiana Wetlands About 3 million cubic yards of sediment will be dredged from the lake to create 400 acres of new wetlands and as the base for a new armored earthen embankment along the lake's northwestern edge. READ MORE

What Do Cities and Counties Get From Whole-of-State Cyber? With help from whole-of-state efforts and federal funding support, small and rural communities are getting a boost for their cyber defenses. Is it enough? READ MORE

What Do Cities Need? MetroLab Program Intends to Find Out Its newly launched Local Government Research and Development Agenda, a nationwide undertaking, looks to provide research and science to cities. Interviews and workshops with 20 munis are underway. READ MORE

White House Releases Plans for Safer Internet Routing This newly issued federal cybersecurity advice for network operators aims to help defend Internet traffic from foreign spying, data theft, outages and a list of other risks. READ MORE

Would Starting School After Labor Day Save Texas Energy and Money? The state’s power grid produced abundant solar power during school hours this August and scarcity is primarily an issue after students have been dismissed for the day. But state Rep. Jared Patterson thinks a delayed start could have benefits. READ MORE


 

CAUTION

Subsequent court and administrative rulings, or changes to laws, rules and regulations may have modified or clarified or vacated or reversed the decisions summarized here. Accordingly, these summaries should be Shepardized® or otherwise checked to make certain that the most recent information is being considered by the reader.
THE MATERIAL ON THIS WEBSITE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. AGAIN, CHANGES IN LAWS, RULES, REGULATIONS AND NEW COURT AND ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS MAY AFFECT THE ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS LAWBLOG. THE MATERIAL PRESENTED IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND THE USE OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON THIS WEBSITE, OR CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING SUCH MATERIAL, DOES NOT CREATE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP.
NYPPL Blogger Harvey Randall served as Principal Attorney, New York State Department of Civil Service; Director of Personnel, SUNY Central Administration; Director of Research, Governor’s Office of Employee Relations; and Staff Judge Advocate General, New York Guard. Consistent with the Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations, the material posted to this blog is presented with the understanding that neither the publisher nor NYPPL and, or, its staff and contributors are providing legal advice to the reader and in the event legal or other expert assistance is needed, the reader is urged to seek such advice from a knowledgeable professional.
New York Public Personnel Law. Email: publications@nycap.rr.com