ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE [AI] IS NOT USED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN PREPARING NYPPL SUMMARIES OF JUDICIAL AND QUASI-JUDICIAL DECISIONS

September 14, 2024

Links to selected items focusing on government operations posted on the Internet during the week ending September 13, 2024.

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

 

AI -  Legal Ethics in the AI Era: The NYC Bar Weighs In: Posted on the Internet by Nicole Black a Rochester, New York attorney  READ MORE

Alabama Commute Times into Major Cities Grow The percentage growth in daily commuters from outside Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery and Mobile far exceed internal growth. Alabama’s average commute time of 23.5 minutes is average among U.S. states. READ MORE

Another scam: Foreign companies, pretending to be publishers - Angela Hoy, publisher of WritersWeekly.com, is seeing increasing numbers of reports about foreign companies, pretending to be publishers to extort more and more money out of authors. And, they know there's is nothing the authors can do about it.... Click HERE to read more.

Another School Shooting. Another Failure of Gun Policy.
We know what works to prevent tragedies like the recent one at a
Georgia high school. Effective gun policies could save thousands of lives. READ MORE

Artificial Intelligence Cohort Takes Shape in New York The New York State Forum has established a new AI-focused workgroup to provide resources and understanding on AI use. It will be led by the state’s Director of Data and AI Governance Gail Galusha. 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

Autonomous Vehicle Manufacturing Coming to Jacksonville, Fla. A cross-sector partnership has helped pave the way for electric AV shuttles to start rolling off the assembly line in Florida by the middle of 2026, meeting Buy America requirements. READ MORE

California Democrats Seeking Crackdown on Retail Theft A year ago, state Democrats blocked efforts to combat and prevent retail theft, but now the Legislature has created a select committee to study its cause. Last month, lawmakers sent 10 retail-theft-related bills to Gov. Newsom’s desk. READ MORE

California Looks to GenAI for Solutions to Larger Challenges From housing to homelessness, state officials want to hear from vendors of generative artificial intelligence for ideas on confronting some significant issues. A large language model showcase is set for later this month. READ MORE

California's High-Tech Approach to Preventing Wildfires AI-trained cameras are putting eyes — hundreds of them — on land across the state. They're spotting fires before the 911 calls come in. READ MORE

Can Georgia Really Deliver Election Integrity in November? Members of the state’s Election Board need to be referees, not cheerleaders, but Donald Trump has made clear he considers some of them on his team. READ MORE

Charlotte’s Transportation Plan Faces Tough Political Obstacles Charlotte’s City Council has approved a sales tax increase to fund transportation. It faces long odds gaining approval from the state Legislature, not to mention spiraling construction costs. READ MORE

Collaboration Empowers Long Beach, Calif., IT, Digital Equity Work Partnering is a critical piece of the California city’s strategy for digital transformation, informing its approach to digital equity and civic technology projects. A new digital inclusion plan builds on this approach. READ MORE

Cybersecurity Spending Is Slowing With the Economy A new report from IANS Research and Artico Search suggests that cybersecurity budgets are growing at a much slower pace than they were previously. Here are the details. READ MORE

Dallas Police Hope New System Can Address Random Gunfire The City Council approved a three-year, $336,362 contract with a gunshot detection program, which alerts police when it picks up the sound of a potential gunshot. Gunshot detection systems have long sparked questions of accuracy, expense and efficacy. READ MORE

Devices Designed for State and Local government personnel State and local government employees need the right devices to effectively serve the public, whether in the office or in the field. The Microsoft Surface portfolio is designed to meet those needs. Empower Your Organization with Surface Devices »

Do You Trust Your Mass Notification Capabilities? When It Counts the Most, Be Confident in Your Emergency Notifications GET THE eBOOK

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

Empty Downtowns Are Still Depleting Local Coffers In much of the country, downtowns remain relatively empty. The implications for property values, mortgage debt and property tax collections have not yet fully played out, says a Columbia University economist. READ MORE

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

Establishing a Sustainable Infrastructure Guide for Local Governments Explore the projects that can bring additional federal funds to the table to upgrade public buildings, ensure operational resiliency, and create new revenue streams. DOWNLOAD IT NOW

FCC to Open Funding for Cybersecurity in K-12, Libraries The three-year $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program opens its application window this fall. The near-term goal is to secure schools most in need, but long-term it will help nationwide. READ MORE

Florida Drivers Enjoy Faster, Better Identity Verification Modern identity technology strengthens fraud protection for the state’s online motor vehicle portal and saves residents a projected 157,000 hours of friction annually. READ MORE

Georgia Shooting Raises Concerns About Cellphone Bans in Schools Across California there have been concerted efforts to ban or restrict cellphone use in schools to limit distractions from learning. But given the most recent school shooting, some are questioning the safety risk of such bans. READ MORE

Global Cybersecurity Threats Matter in Local, Rural Communities Statewide cybersecurity initiatives, like whole-of-state programs, are offering essential support to smaller communities and agencies. Backed by federal funding, they aim to bridge resource gaps and strengthen defenses against cyber threats. READ MORE

Global Study Finds Organizations Facing Cybersecurity Gaps Specifically, organizations worldwide are dealing with gaps in cybersecurity skills and staffing gaps, fueled in part by limited hiring budgets. A new study, however, offers potential solutions. READ MORE

Groundbreaking Resilience Plan Wins Project of the Year Jersey City's landmark plan for climate resilience, in collaboration with Schneider Electric, earns top honors in the Environment + Energy Leader Awards program. LEARN MORE

How Huge Commercial Spaces in the Bay Area Are Being Repurposed The Bayfair Center mall in San Leandro, Calif., was once a major shopping hub. But after the mall officially closed last month, developers will reimagine the 400,000-square-foot space into a research and development space for tech companies. 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

How Wilmington uses data to drive positive community outcomes The case study details how the City of Wilmington, Delaware, uses data to enhance community collaboration and drive positive outcomes in crime prevention. DOWNLOAD

Louisiana Governor Targets Alleged Voter Fraud from Noncitizens Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order that will require the state Office of Motor Vehicles to compile a list of people who have been issued a temporary license or ID card, which will then be used to cross-check state voter rolls. READ MORE

Managing Resident Requests: A Playbook for Local Governments This eBook provides a comprehensive guide for local governments to improve resident request management and reshape public perception. It addresses the challenges of managing resident complaints, the importance of trust and technology in service delivery, and the critical features of 311 CRM solutions that aid in streamlining operations. DOWNLOAD

Map: Which States Implement "Foundational" Gun Control Policies? And how does that overlap with reported deaths from firearms? READ MORE

Miami’s Tourism Bureau Supports Black-Owned Hospitality Businesses The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Tourism Business Enhancement Program lasts 15 to 16 weeks and includes workshops on marketing, legal and financial help. READ MORE

NASCIO Survey Exposes the Hard Data Truths of AI Adoption Responses from 46 states show a big challenge for government in the AI era: many focus on data analysis and business intelligence while neglecting elements such as metadata management, master data and data stewardship. READ MORE

New Mexico Appoints Manny Barreras as Next CIO Barreras, who was previously with Motorola Solutions, helped secure a contract with the state IT department for a major radio system upgrade project. He replaces acting CIO Raja Sambandam. READ MORE

New Resource Examines Data Governance in the Age of AI A guide from the Data Foundation is intended to be a comprehensive resource for policymakers, with guidance to support improved data governance amid the rise of artificial intelligence technology. READ MORE

New York City May Soon Publicize Approved AI Tools New York City Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez is introducing new legislation this week that would require the creation of a public list of the city’s approved artificial intelligence tools. READ MORE

No, American West, You Can’t Have Our Great Lakes Water The idea that the lakes’ bounty will solve the thirst of the western United States is an obstacle delaying the West’s inevitable reckoning with the unsustainable status quo. READ MORE

North Carolina DMV Says Lack of Staff Is Root of Many Problems The state has grown by about 2.4 million people since 2003 and yet the DMV says it’s only been authorized to open three new driver’s license offices. The Legislature sets the number of staff for the DMV, which is capped at 568. READ MORE

Oil and Gas Towns Don’t Need Help Now, but They Will They face a unique long-term threat from global efforts to address climate change, strategies that will sharply reduce demand for fossil fuels. The best time to build a more resilient economy is before a crisis arrives. READ MORE

Opinion: EMS Is an Essential Service — States Should Make It Official Designating emergency medical services by law would go a long way toward addressing the many issues they face, including workforce shortages and funding deficits that make it difficult to help in critical situations. READ MORE

Pennsylvania’s Townships Are Shifting to the Left Suburbs of the state’s small cities, like Harrisburg, are slightly moving away from the solidly red voting trends of previous years. Trump won Lower Allen, Pa., by 1,000 votes in 2016 but by only 129 in 2020. READ MORE

PG&E Surveys NorCal Equipment to Reduce Wildfire Risk Pacific Gas and Electric used low-flying helicopters equipped with hi-res imagery technology and light detection sensors to build 3D models that will show where fire risk may be highest. The data will also inform AI risk models. READ MORE

Planning for a Daunting New Normal of Flood Risk Rainfall patterns are changing. What can local leaders do to curb the growing risks? READ MORE

Reinventing Constituent Experiences with AI Generative AI and smart chatbots are transforming how state and local agencies interact with constituents. This paper offers a roadmap for using these technologies to deliver great self-service experiences. DOWNLOAD

Rural Communities at Risk as Cyber Threats Become More Granular Statewide cybersecurity initiatives, like Whole-of-State programs, are offering essential support to smaller communities and agencies. These programs, backed by federal funding, aim to bridge resource gaps and strengthen defenses against cyber threats. READ MORE

Salesforce’s New AI Tools Include Public-Sector Use Cases The software giant has launched an effort to create a library of AI tools tailored to specific industries, including government, where the first release aims to help administer benefits programs and other tasks. READ MORE

Should State Governments Ban Ransomware Payments? Given the surge of ransomware attacks and increasing costs of payments to unlock stolen data in 2024, some states have banned public ransomware payments. But experts are divided on whether it's the right move. READ MORE

Should State Governments Ban Ransomware Payments?
Given the surge of ransomware attacks and increasing costs of payments to unlock stolen data in 2024, some states have banned public ransomware payments. But experts are divided on whether it's the right move. READ MORE

Some Solutions for State and Local Tax Deductibility When the 2017 tax law expires next year, Congress will revisit the limits on SALT deductions on federal returns. With elections approaching, it’s time for governors and mayors to offer some viable new policy options — and ways to pay for them. READ MORE

State CIOs Weigh In on Securing the 2024 Election As Nov. 5 approaches, we asked state CIOs what role they play in keeping elections fair, valid and cyber-safe. READ MORE

States Crack Down on License Plate Flippers Used to Avoid Police, Fees License plate flippers are commonly used at auto shows to allow drivers to switch between custom or decorative plates. But now drivers are using them to evade detection and cities and states across the nation are enacting laws to prohibit their use. READ MORE

Texas County Rejects Voting Machine Upgrade for Fear of Tampering Following the Montgomery County commissioners’ unanimous decision, election officials will now have to generate manual ballots for residents outside of Texas and retrofit the more than 1,000 machines with an older version of the software. READ MORE

Texas Leads Push for Faster Certification of Mental Health Professionals Other states look to Texas as the state psychology board pushes against the new national licensing requirements. READ MORE

Texas Proposes First New Rules for Oil Field Waste in 40 Years hile environmentalists say the new rules don’t do enough to protect groundwater, oil and gas operators are contesting stricter requirements for waste pits near wells. READ MORE

Transform Public Safety: Join Vision 2024 FirstNet Summit Explore the latest in emergency communication at Vision 2024. Engage with industry leaders, experience hands-on demos, and enhance your response capabilities. REGISTER NOW

Two Dallas-Fort Worth Data Center Projects Get Underway One, in Red Oak, is a 480-megawatt data center campus on 292 acres. Construction is underway. A second, roughly $1 billion data center project on 60 acres near the Bush Turnpike got city economic incentives last week. READ MORE

Tyler, Envisio Partner on Priority-Based Budgeting Software The two government technology companies are working together to help agencies adopt a new way of budgeting, and to make the process more transparent for both public servants and their constituents. READ MORE

University of Texas Now Offers Education in Media Influencing This fall is the first semester that the University of Texas at San Antonio began offering a digital media influencing degree, which helps students develop professional skills to become successful in the online sphere. READ MORE

Utility Partnership to Expand Chicago Broadband Service The utility ComEd is working with Illinois nonprofit QUILT to improve middle-mile broadband infrastructure across Chicago’s South and West sides while reducing costs. The initiative is enabled by a federal grant. READ MORE

Want to Make the Most of Federal Infrastructure Funding? There’s a Hub for That. Through boot camps and training sessions, a group is helping smaller cities and towns with limited resources put together competitive grant applications. More mayors should take advantage of it. READ MORE

What Did States Do With Their Budget Surpluses? State revenue collections are returning to earth after several years of high budget surpluses. In many cases, they used the unexpected funds for one-time investments and to shore up reserve funds. READ MORE

 What Do California Latinos Think About AI? A poll found that 56 percent of California Latinos see artificial intelligence as “just a new tool,” while the remaining 44 percent said the tech was a bad idea and would cost people jobs. 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's Worrying Gov Tech Players as 2025 Approaches? At the State of GovTech conference, vendors, public officials and others discussed the industry's future, and what startups need for success. AI was a big topic, with public agency cooperation becoming more of a factor. 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

 


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