Links to selected items focusing on govenmental operations posted on the Internet during the week ending January 24, 2025.

A 442 page E-book describing administrative and judicial penalties for misconduct imposed on public employees. Focusing on disciplinary penalties imposed on public employees of the State of New York and its political subdivisions found guilty of misconduct from Abandoning a post without authorization to Zero drug tolerance policy violation, this e-book may be of interest to public employers, employee organizations and attorneys in other jurisdictions. FREE EXCERPT

A Media Literacy toolkit for educators available  New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced the release of New York State’s first media literacy kit, an ideologically neutral product which gives teachers resources to develop the students’ ability to analyze, evaluate and assess all forms of media, including information delivered through social media. READ MORE

A Tale of Two Accelerators: One Closes, One Opens New Push New York-based URBAN-X is no more, after working with gov tech firms since 2016. But New York City’s Transit Tech Lab is looking for help to solve mass transit problems as congestion pricing kicks off in Manhattan. READ MORE

After Skyrocketing, Rents in Austin Have Dropped 19 Straight Months The reason is simple: A boom in apartment construction. Developers are pulling permits at a rate nearly triple that of San Antonio on a per capita basis. READ MORE

AI and Cloud Strategies for State and Local Agencies This guide explores how AI-powered tools and cloud infrastructure can help government agencies overcome the challenges of tight budgets and aging infrastructure. Case studies from California and Utah demonstrate the transformative impact of these strategies, saving dollars and accelerating service delivery. DOWNLOAD

AI Aspirations Drive Hartford, Conn.’s Innovation Funding Bid The city is among those vying for funding from the $100 million “Innovation Clusters” state program to promote development of key industries. In its case, Hartford would expand its work in artificial intelligence. READ MORE

AI guide released by the Florida Bar - Rochester NY attorney Nicole Black reports that a handy generative AI Guide for Lawyers has been posted by the Florida bar in her Law Blog, Sui Generis. Read the whole entry 

AI in State and Local Government: Everything You Need to Know Artificial intelligence (AI) often dominates technology discussions. But with so many implementation and policy considerations around the technology, many government leaders can feel overwhelmed at the idea of getting started with AI. This go-to guide shares everything you need to know to quickly begin implementing AI and developing the appropriate policy for the technology DOWNLOAD

ANNOUNCING CDG-NACo’s Digital Counties Survey 2025! The Center for Digital Government and National Association of Counties invite all U.S. counties to participate in the Digital Counties Survey. DIGITAL COUNTIES SURVEY ONLINE

Aurigo Gives Capital Planning Software an AI Boost The Texas-based seller of technology used by public agencies and others says its new Lumina platform can more quickly access vital project management data. The tool employs natural language search and machine learning. READ MORE

Casinos in Ohio Now Accept Digital IDs — What’s Next? More than 350,000 Ohio mobile driver's licenses have been added to Apple Wallets in the state. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted spoke with Government Technology about the state’s next steps in the new age of digital identity. READ MORE

Childhood Vaccination Rates Continue to Slip The 2023-24 school year saw the highest percentage of kindergarteners exempted from vaccinations, with increases in 40 states and Washington, D.C. In some localities, the so-called health freedom message has led to nonmedical exemption rates as high as 50 percent. READ MORE

Cybersecurity in Transition: Biden Administration Warnings and What’s Next for the U.S. From a new White House executive order on cyber to a blog from the outgoing CISA director to more scary details on the Treasury hack, the outgoing administration has strong words on cyber threats. READ MORE

Digital Done Right: A Real-World Modernization Success Story  Discover how one state agency tackled record backlogs, streamlined access to documents, and fortified security by digitizing decades of data.  DOWNLOAD

Does California Have Enough Money to Rebuild Its Schools? Voters approved $10 billion in school construction bonds last November. Facing big maintenance backlogs, districts around the state are worried the money could be quickly depleted by the need to rebuild Los Angeles schools after the fires. READ MORE

Eighteen Homelessness Programs Face Cuts in San Diego County The programs depend on temporary sources of funding from Washington and the state that may be drying up. Finding sustainable funds has been a challenge. READ MORE

Empowering Local Governments to Accelerate Economic Mobility A national partnership aims to help local governments deliver better results for their residents. Learn More

End of Federal Remote Work Welcomed by Virginia and D.C. Leaders President Trump’s executive order abolishing remote work for most employees will be good for the local economy and transit systems. Twenty percent of the federal workforce lives in the D.C. area. READ MORE

FCC Announces School, Library Cyber Pilot Participants Schools and districts comprise 645 of the 707 participants selected to receive funding through the Federal Communications Commission’s three-year, $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program. READ MORE  

Federal Agency Outlines Recommendations for Accessible AI  The U.S. Access Board highlighted its initial findings on the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for people with disabilities, offering recommendations to promote responsible use. READ MORE

FETC25: Data Masking to Protect Schools from Data Theft By creating “fake” versions of their data to interface with ed-tech vendors, school districts can limit what kinds of personally identifiable information those companies have in the event they experience a data breach. READ MORE

From Scooters to Cars, Feds Give EV Charging a Funding Boost The U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation has awarded funding to 25 projects, to advance the use of electrified urban transportation. The money is intended to expand at-home charging and electrified fleets. READ MORE

GenAI in Courts: How Artificial Intelligence Improves Efficiency and Accuracy in Court Systems State and local court systems are strained. Even routine legal processes can overburden staff and delay crucial judicial processes. The right AI assistant can transform the way courts are run, letting legal staff focus on helping more people get justice quickly and reliably. DOWNLOAD

Helping Local Governments Deliver Better Results for Their Residents A national partnership has the power to reach tens of thousands of government leaders. Learn More

How Baltimore Convinced Officers to Seek Help for Alcoholism and Depression The city’s police department has put a focus on officer mental health and well-being. That’s a big cultural change because officers often feel they need to hide their struggles. READ MORE

How New Administration’s Priorities Will Impact State, Local Government A look at key changes, their implications and emergent best practices as the start of President Donald Trump's second term brings shifts likely to have influence across state and local organizations. READ MORE

Idaho IT Staffs Up to Set Stage for Future Consolidation Two January appointments in the Idaho Office of Information Technology Services will help enable the state to better deliver technology services and prepare for future consolidation plans. READ MORE

Indiana’s Modernization Designed to Support AI Enablement The Indiana Secretary of State’s Office is migrating its divisions from legacy systems to the cloud; this supports artificial intelligence implementations such as the recent launch of two new AI-powered chatbots. READ MORE

Invest in Your Organization's Future with Microsoft The Public Sector Center for Digital Skills is intended to help organizations advance their digital transformation through skilling. Explore resources today 

Is It Possible to Stop Terrorists Who Act Alone? Lone wolf attackers can be harder to detect than those who work in a group. But strategies involving police, the public and mental health professionals can help. READ MORE

Massachusetts Tech Agency’s New Role Will Shape Strategy Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Technology Services and Security’s first deputy secretary, Erica Bradshaw, plays an instrumental role in guiding planning for the agency and the state. READ MORE

Memo to Big-City Progressives: Get Back to Basics The No. 1 job of urban leaders is to deliver core services. Some of them have forgotten that. READ MORE

Michigan Kills Plan to Road Test Replacement for Gas Taxes Like other states, Michigan is seeing declining revenues due to electric vehicles. It’s pulled a pilot program to try out a fee system based on miles traveled due to lack of funding, which critics call short-sighted. READ MORE

Mississippi House Passes Bill to Phase Out Income Tax The plan would reduce the state’s $7 billion general fund by $1.1 billion over 10 years. Losses would be partially offset by increases in sales and gas taxes. READ MORE  

Missouri Tackles Gig Economy Benefits to Speed Up Payments Missouri is joining other states tackling income verification for the gig economy, investing in new tech backed by basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal to reduce caseworker processing times and get faster assistance to those in need. READ MORE

Modesto, Calif., Police Attribute Traffic Stop Jump to Software At a Community Police Review Board meeting, Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie attributed an apparent leap in traffic stops in 2023 to software issues that affected data reporting in 2022. READ MORE

Navigating Modern Threats with Consistent Security Strategies [Jan 23] Join this webinar to explore how modern security solutions are eliminating weak links and giving agencies the tools to respond rapidly to threats while simplifying the security landscape. REGISTER

Nevada Lawmakers, Locals Gear Up to Confront Deepfakes Public- and private-sector leaders are guarding against artificially generated impersonations, AI-generated disinformation and scams. But, officials say, their task is becoming increasingly difficult and complex. READ MORE

Pennsylvania DOT Using Tech to Reduce Congestion, Pollution PennDOT plans to pilot Freight Signal Priority tech at two high truck traffic locations, which it hopes will help relieve congestion and reduce air pollution while ensuring goods can more quickly get to market. READ MORE

Philadelphia Rolls Out New Model for Drug Courts The city is launching “neighborhood wellness courts,” a diversion program designed to issue citations and offer addiction treatment and other services in lieu of misdemeanor sentences. READ MORE

Policy+Action With Dan Kim: How Technology Modernization Funds Are Changing the Game These funds can be key to breaking the innovation stalemate. In California, funding nimble, high-impact solutions can help replace inertia with action to modernize IT systems and deliver better services for the public. READ MORE

Power Plays: The Need to Revive ‘Energy Federalism’ The Trump administration has an opportunity to return authority over energy generation and natural resource development to the states. READ MORE

Public Officials Need to Embrace New Ways to Communicate In an era of diminished credibility for traditional media, government leaders can no longer count on it to educate and inform the public. There are alternatives, and leaders should make greater use of them. READ MORE

Public Retirees’ Big Win — and What Might Happen Next As 2024 came to a close, the White House and Congress approved big giveaways to two subsets of state and local government employees and pensioners. There could be political backlash, and for equity’s sake there might be a case for some corrective tax policies. READ MORE

Record Snow Could Keep Louisiana Residents Homebound for Days The state faced its worst storm in decades with up to 10 inches shutting down roads. States of emergency were declared across the South due to unusual wintry conditions. READ MORE

Redesigned S.F. Site Targets Accessibility, Flexibility San Francisco has launched a re-platformed SF.gov, with new content management for better flexibility and in-house management. A new design system is intended to improve access and visual consistency. READ MORE

Ridership, Maintenance Among Transit Tech Lab Challenges  For its seventh round of technology questions, the New York City organization will focus on understanding and growing ridership, and on doing more with maintenance. To date, the program has yielded 37 scalable solutions. READ MORE

Ridgefield, Conn., Schools Affected by Nationwide Data Breach Although Ridgefield school officials initially thought the district wasn't affected by the PowerSchool data breach impacting educational institutions nationwide, they're now saying that's not the case. READ MORE  

Texas State Employees Fired After Stealing Money from Public Assistance Programs Seven employees were fired after accessing tens of thousands of Medicaid and food stamp accounts and stealing at least $270,000. READ MORE

The 2025 GT100: Our 10th Annual List of Who's Who in Gov Tech See who made the latest edition of the GovTech 100 as we analyze the market serving state and local government IT. With ever-more investment in gov tech, several large firms have begun merging with startups and niche players. READ MORE

The Dilemma of Disaster Insurance Just Got Worse Catastrophes like the L.A. wildfires are going to happen again. There’s no easy way to make sure victims can be made whole. READ MORE

The New Email Battlefield: Defending Against AI-Powered Threats [Jan 23] Join this webinar to learn how today's email threats work, why they’re escalating, and what specific steps you can take to protect your organization. REGISTER

The Superpower Behind AI Is You AI is revolutionizing the way government organizations operate, but the driving force isn’t the technology itself—it’s you. Learn how to enhance your team with AI. Get the guide

Traffic on the Rise as Employers Scale Back Remote Work Tech-heavy cities like San Jose and Seattle saw significant declines in remote work last year and the traffic to show for it, the INRIX 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard found. Elsewhere, other trends drove roadway congestion up. READ MORE

Trump Announces Billion-Dollar Strategic AI Investment  On his second day in office, President Donald Trump unveiled a joint, private-sector venture to fund billions of dollars in U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure. Dubbed Stargate, it will deploy $100 billion “immediately,” the CEO of SoftBank said. READ MORE

Trump’s HUD Nominee Calls for “Millions More Homes” During a confirmation hearing, Eric Scott Turner said his priority as secretary would be increasing the supply of affordable housing and homes in general. READ MORE  

What Trump’s Infrastructure Announcements Mean for States The Trump White House has ordered a pause on infrastructure spending approved during the last administration, and is promoting new spending on digital infrastructure to support artificial intelligence. READ MORE

What’s New in Digital Equity: BEAD Final Proposals Approved  Plus, $117 million in NTIA grants go out, Indiana funds county broadband expansion, the E-BRIDGE Act is now the law of the land, new legislation aims to support rural broadband development, and more. READ MORE

Will Insurance Cover the Fire Next Time? Insurance companies were fleeing fire-prone parts of California even before the disaster in Los Angeles. Policymakers are under pressure to find solutions as the risks grow. READ MORE

Your Comparative Guide to Advanced Cloud Firewalls  Discover which advanced cloud firewalls lead the pack in security efficacy, operational efficiency, and resilience. This in-depth report, backed by real-world testing across 12 solutions, offers a detailed comparison of how top firewalls perform against today's evolving threats. DOWNLOAD