Selected links to items focusing on government operations posted on the Internet during the week ending March 1, 2024

Advance Market Commitments: The Future of Government Procurement? When innovation needs a boost, advance market commitments are a tool that not only secures value for taxpayers but also fosters environmental sustainability and economic development. READ MORE

 

AI, Security, Sustainability: Public Sector Innovation at Google Cloud Next '24 Dive into hands-on workshops, inspiring keynotes, and 500+ sessions covering AI, security, citizen services, and more. Get exclusive discounts and network with fellow public sector peers! READ MORE

 

ANNOUNCING CDG-NACo’s Digital Counties Survey 2024! 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

 

Aurora, Ill., First Responders Learn from 2019 Mass Shooting The police and fire departments took the lessons they learned during a mass shooting incident in 2019 and have increased collaboration, plus implemented new training and equipment, to prepare for future emergencies. READ MORE

 

Austin Charts a Plan to Grow Its E-Bike Network Austin plans to fully electrify its bike-share fleet, in addition to increasing the number of bikes and docking stations. This is in line with other cities and the broader trend of electrifying bicycle fleets. READ MORE

 

Big Tech's New Rules of the Road for AI and Elections Major tech firms have signed an accord to fight the deceptive use of AI in 2024 elections. It’s a welcome signal, if not a promise to solve the problem. READ MORE

 

CentralSquare, RapidSOS Launch Public Safety Partnership The two sellers of technology for emergency responders said that CentralSquare will become a verified reseller for RapidSOS. The deal is the latest to bring together gov tech vendors in that space. READ MORE

 

Cities Must Decide If Free Bus Rides Are Fair and Viable Just 23 cities across the nation had ridership last year that was equal to or higher than pre-pandemic levels, and 14 of those had free rides at least part of the year. As COVID-19 funds end, cities must weigh the value of free rides. READ MORE

 

Coastal Residents Are Right to Be Worried About Offshore Wind All along the Eastern Seaboard, concerns about industrial wind turbines continue to grow. There are better ways to generate clean, reliable, less costly power. READ MORE

 

Cox Buys Majority Stake in OpenGov, Prompting $1.8B Valuation Cox Enterprises’ investment caps a busy fourth quarter for OpenGov — and makes it one of just a few gov tech companies with a value of $1 billion or more. Plans are for its workforce and leadership to remain in place. READ MORE

 

Dallas Reconsiders Rule That Hurts Historic Black Neighborhoods The City Council may abandon an ordinance that allows the demolition of homes smaller than 3,000 square feet within a Landmark District to “address substandard structures.” The rule disproportionately impacted Black, brown and low-income neighborhoods. READ MORE

 

Deliver Excellent Government Agency CX Build trust, unity, and engagement through transformative CX. LEARN MORE

 

Digital Payment Options. Powered by PayPal, Delivered by You. PayPal gives your citizen’s the confidence they need to complete their transactions online, while your funds are delivered on time with CORE. Win-win. LEARN MORE

 

Digital Payments with Confidence CORE + PayPal® ensures quick, secure, compliant checkout that’s reliable and convenient on every device. It’s the modern and effective payment solution that’s expected by citizens today. LEARN MORE

 

Digital-ready, Frictionless Revenue and Payment Solutions for State and Local Governments CORE + PayPal® is the modern connection platform designed to modernize the payments and engagement automation for state and local governments. LEARN MORE

 

Easy Access: What FedRAMP Redesign Means for Users The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program’s redesign of its marketplace is focused on smoothing navigation. The update to FedRAMP, first launched in 2011, followed dialog with users on pain points. READ MORE

 

Election Systems Require Upgrading Ahead of Voting To protect voting outcomes, every step of the election process must be secure. Election machines are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks because they’re network-connected and expand the attack surface of government entities. DOWNLOAD PDF

 

Election Will Determine California Workers’ Litigation Rights California workers are allowed to sue employers for themselves and others if they believe they’ve been victims of wage theft under a unique state law. But a new ballot measure would replace the law if approved in November. READ MORE

 

Empowering First Responders to Stay Connected Situational knowledge is essential for first responders to make strategic decisions while under pressure on the job. DOWNLOAD PDF

 

Federal Subsidy Vital to Internet Access, Users Say A new survey of Affordable Connectivity Program users detailed the financial hardships recipients face in affording broadband, and found more than half access government services online. READ MORE

 

Florida Commits $25M to Tech Career Education The funding will benefit students at high schools in 15 Florida districts, and at three colleges. It will pay for training in emerging fields like enterprise cloud computing, as well as traditional vocations. READ MORE

 

Florida health officials began warning homeowners near the Florida State Fire College that well water may be contaminated and a potential health hazard. But inmates at a nearby women’s prison say they weren’t informed. READ MORE

 

How AI Tools Can Help Governments Understand and Manage Data Artificial intelligence software can be a powerful force in helping government agencies that are responsible for managing and analyzing massive amounts of data, both quantitative and qualitative. READ MORE

 

How Can Government Technology Leaders Make AI a Reality? As we head into the rest of 2024 and the buzz around artificial intelligence continues unabated, here's advice on how government can make practical use of the new tech — and ensure it remains secure in the process. READ MORE

 

How Hoboken Has Gone Years Without a Traffic Death It's been seven years since the New Jersey city has seen a traffic fatality, with injuries down significantly as well. Many of its improvements could be replicated elsewhere. READ MORE

 

How Is Chicago Mayor’s Promise of Co-Governance Going? When Mayor Brandon Johnson took office last May, he was praised for his notion of bringing “the people” into City Hall. But progress has been rocky as Johnson must contend with the realities of legislating with 50 different aldermen. READ MORE

 

How Process Automation Improves the Government Experience For state and local government organizations, process automation goes hand in hand with systems integrations efforts to help states, cities and counties create a better, more satisfying government experience (GovX). DOWNLOAD PDF

 

How to Cyber Secure a Modernizing, Greener Energy Grid As the U.S. continues to shift toward using more renewable energy sources, officials are starting to grapple with how to keep a changing infrastructure cyber secure. READ MORE

 

Indiana’s New AI Policy Calls for Pre-Deployment Assessments he state’s new risk assessments aim to strike a balance between harnessing the benefits of AI and managing data and ethical concerns. Meanwhile, Indiana’s first customer-facing AI tool is now in service. READ MORE

 

Introducing the CyberPeace Institute: Protecting Communities Online In this interview, Pavlina Pavlova, public policy adviser at the CyberPeace Institute, describes the organization’s mission and global activities to reduce harm online for vulnerable populations. READ MORE

 

Is Now the Right Time for a Ransomware Payment Ban? Experts have long debated a nationwide ban on paying cyber extortionists. But any ban must be paired with measures to help targets improve defenses, cybersecurity experts say. READ MORE

 

Let’s End Tax Break Giveaways for the Fat Cats of Pro Sports Billions of dollars in tax-sheltered municipal bonds are sold to fund stadiums and arenas that enrich team owners while fueling federal deficits. Local politicians can’t say no, but Congress should. READ MORE

 

Lobbyists Spent $24.9M to Sway Kentucky Legislators Last Year Companies, nonprofit organizations and other groups spent a record amount to influence the state’s General Assembly last year, with Kentucky Merchants and Amusement Coalition topping the list with $483,324 spent. READ MORE

 

Los Angeles Becomes First U.S. City to Outlaw Digital Discrimination Under a new ordinance, Internet providers can’t provide better service to wealthier neighborhoods. A 2022 investigation found that households in L.A.’s poorest neighborhoods paid high prices for slow service. READ MORE

 

Mastering the Government Experience This guide from the Center for Digital Government highlights key lessons learned, best practices and proven examples from states and localities across the country that are transforming GovX for the communities they serve. DOWNLOAD PDF

 

Measles Cases Continue to Emerge Across Florida If a probable case is confirmed, the total number of infections would be nine in Florida. READ MORE

 

Minnesota Officials Urge Fiscal Caution Despite $3.7B Surplus Estimates increased $1.3 billion from projections released in December. The state also has about $2.9 billion in its rainy-day fund. However, officials warn of a potential $1.5 billion shortfall in the coming years. READ MORE

 

Navigate, Equip, Learn, Connect: Your Public Sector Launchpad at Google Cloud Next '24 Learn from real-world leaders and get hands-on experience on AI, security & citizen services. Network, collaborate & launch your mission forward. READ MORE & REGISTER NOW

 

Need a Ride in New Brunswick, N.J.? There’s an App for That RIDE On Demand, a new shared on-demand transit service in Middlesex County, N.J., aims to give riders in the county seat more transit options and reduce traffic congestion. It arrives Tuesday through technology provider Via. READ MORE

 

Nevada CIO Prioritizes the People Powering State IT During the time that Nevada CIO Timothy Galluzi has been serving in the CIO role, he has witnessed the value of collaboration and partnership in guiding state IT. Galluzi has been the state’s IT leader since 2022. READ MORE

 

New Aberdeen Report: VoC Delivers ROI for Government Institutions Customer feedback can gather insights and drive improvements to your CX. FIND OUT MORE

 

New Hampshire Considers Veterans’ Treatment Instead of Prosecution A bill would require each county to offer a treatment option as an alternative to the traditional court process for veterans and active military members. About 8 percent of the state’s corrections system population served in the military. READ MORE

 

New Microsoft AI Tool Could Help Government Lighten Its Load Microsoft Azure now offers Azure OpenAI Service. A company executive described how governments might use it, and what that could mean for staff workloads. READ MORE

 

NIST Releases Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 NIST released its first major update to the framework since 2014. The new version adds a key cybersecurity function, aims to support all sectors and is accompanied by the release of supplementary resources.

 

Oregon’s New $106M Unemployment System Won’t Fix Everything The state Employment Department’s new computer system, Frances Online, will replace the one that had been in place since the 1990s. But old technology is not the only thing the department needs to fix. READ MORE

Permits and Grant Applications, Built with Ease Build permit and approval applications via Low Code Tools, which can create custom workflows quickly, speeding up application development and delivery. LEARN MORE

 

Private 5G Network: Connect More Than Ever Before This paper from Verizon explores how a private 5G or LTE Network can help organizations overcome today’s operational challenges while laying the foundation for tomorrow’s new technologies and emerging capabilities. DOWNLOAD PDF

 

Pulse Purchase Lets Springbrook Strengthen HR Offerings Australia-based Pulse focuses on public-sector human resources management. Springbrook will use the tech to help local governments better manage hiring and onboarding, in a time of gov tech staffing shortages. READ MORE

 

RapidDeploy, Raptor Technologies Partner on School Safety The partnership will integrate tools from both firms and aims to improve communications and response during school emergency situations amid growing concerns about school safety nationwide. READ MORE

 

Rekindling the Hope of Black Homeownership A group of American cities are working to reverse practices that have held down Black homeownership — and the generational wealth it brings — for nearly a century. READ MORE

 

Resort Towns Need to Get Serious About Affordable Housing The pandemic has made the shortage worse for both permanent residents and the workforce. Some towns are beginning to find solutions. READ MORE

 

San Diego County Will Train 1M Residents in CPR A new public health campaign aims to train about one-third of the county’s population in how to do the procedure. In 2021, only 8 percent of those who suffered cardiac arrest in the county, outside of a hospital, survived. READ MORE

 

San Francisco’s Office Conversion Ballot Measure May Backfire The city’s own study about Mayor London Breed’s proposal to make it more profitable to turn empty offices into new homes found that it is unlikely to drive significant savings under current market conditions. READ MORE

 

Sea Levels Are Rising, but Many Coastal Cities Are Sinking Faster Land subsidence is making major seafront metropolises from New York to Jakarta more vulnerable to rising waters. Local decision-makers need to account for it. READ MORE

 

Simplified, Consumer-ready Platform – for You and Your Constituents CORE + PayPal® is the modern connection platform designed to modernize the payments and engagement automation for state and local governments. LEARN MORE

 

Smart Cities and Cybersecurity: Protecting Citizens from Malicious Attacks Smart cities and cybersecurity are inseparable. When you start integrating the Internet of Things with infrastructure, a city cyber attack is, unfortunately, inevitable. But that doesn't mean it has to be successful. READ MORE

 

Society for Science Awards 41 STEM Educator Grants The nonprofit is awarding funds and research kits to teachers in an effort to encourage early interest in STEM subjects like robotics and coding, and to diversify science, technology, engineering and math fields. READ MORE

 

States’ Misguided Attempts to Regulate Social Media Laws in Texas and Florida that prohibit the platforms from removing content run afoul of the First Amendment and will make things worse. The Supreme Court should strike them down. READ MORE

 

Stricter Bail Laws Don’t Deter Crime, Research Suggests Experts say that most crime data is too unreliable to pinpoint specific policies as the primary drivers of crime rates. Yet politicians often draw a straight line between bail laws and crime rates, potentially misleading voters. READ MORE

 

Texas Panhandle Wildfire Becomes 2nd Largest in State History Gov. Greg Abbott declared an emergency declaration on Tuesday for 60 counties as the Smokehouse Creek Fire continued to spread. As of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the fire had burned 850,000 acres and was just 3 percent contained. READ MORE

 

The Poisonous Patriarchy of Higher Education
As recent ousters illustrate, patriarchy's a particular issue for Black women in top administrative positions at colleges and universities. Education leaders and public officials need to take it seriously. READ MORE

 

To Electrify Trucking, Start With a Blueprint Ava Community Energy in the San Francisco Bay Area has drafted its Zero-Emission Medium and Heavy-Duty Goods Movement Blueprint to aid in the transition of trucking toward zero-emission vehicles. READ MORE

 

Transforming Community Infrastructure for Water Conservation Local governments can drastically improve water conservation with a comprehensive approach to water management. READ MORE

 

USDA Warns States They’re Too Slow Distributing Food Stamps The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued warning letters to 32 states and two territories that were behind on processing resident applications for SNAP benefits. The backlog of applications leave many residents without food access. READ MORE

 

Washington Struggles With a Crumbling Public Defender System Staffing shortages, extremely heavy caseloads and lack of state funding have hamstrung the state’s criminal justice system, leaving many communities reeling. READ MORE

 

West Virginia Keeps Favoring Big Companies Legislators continue to stall on proposed and already-enacted laws that aim to promote small-business development in minority and low-income communities. At the end of last year, the state’s Black unemployment rate was nearly 3 percent higher than the overall average. READ MORE

 

What a Tricky Economic Cycle Means for State Budgets Revenues are coming in slower, creating some shortfalls. Following recent boom times, even a bit of belt-tightening is going to come as a shock. READ MORE

 

What Could Entrepreneurs and Government Do Together? The co-author of a new book suggests that when technology, data and collective effort converge, government, the tech industry and higher education can tackle major challenges while bringing a new generation into the workforce. READ MORE

 

What's Driving the Changes to Child Labor Laws? A number of red states are moving to weaken child labor laws. Sponsors say they just want kids to be able to work, but critics complain companies are already exploiting vulnerable populations. READ MORE

 

Termination of employment of an employee who has been continuously absent without official approval since February 2022 recommended

New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Administrative Law Judge Orlando Rodriguez recommended termination of employment for a patient care associate [Respondent] who had been continuously absent without approval  since February 17, 2022.

There was no dispute that Respondent's absences were due to her disability and that she could no longer perform her work duties.

The ALJ rejected Respondent’s argument that the Employer’s pursuit of disciplinary action violated the City’s Human Rights Law, finding that such violation may only be found where the employee has been able to demonstrate rehabilitation at the time of disciplinary action.

Judge Rodriguez also rejected Respondent’s argument that the proceeding should be converted to a proceeding under §72 of the Civil Service Law.* The ALJ said "it is well-settled that a government agency may choose to bring disciplinary charges for time-and-leave violations rather than a disability proceeding, even when the misconduct is caused by a disability".

Finding that Respondent has been continuously absent without authorization, the ALJ recommended that the Respondent be terminated from her position.

* NYPPL notes Respondent did not dispute that she has not returned to work since February 17, 2022 and claims she can no longer perform the duties of her position because of "injuries she sustained in a car accident nine years ago, which have worsened over time". 

Section 73 of the Civil Service Law provides for the removal of a tenured employee in the classified service placed on leave pursuant to §72 of the Civil Service Law if he or she has been continuously absent from work for one year or more because of a non-work related injury or illness. Termination pursuant to §73 is at the discretion of the appointing authority. 

Termination following a cumulative period absence of one year or more due to a work-connected injury or illness is controlled by §71 of the Civil Service Law. Again, termination of an individual placed on a §71 leave of absence is at the discretion of the appointing authority. 

N.B. §71 provides "where an employee has been separated from the service by reason of a disability resulting from an assault sustained in the course of his or her employment, he or she shall be entitled to a leave of absence for at least two years".

Click HERE to access to the decision issued by Judge Rodriguez posted on the Internet.

 

New York State Department of Civil Service Classification and Compensation updates posted on the Internet

On February 28, 2024, the New York State Department of Civil Service posted the Classification and Compensation information on the Internet:

• C&C Update June 2023 - February 2024

The text of the Policy Memorandum is posted at C&C Update June 2023- February 2024

The Department noted that it offers a version of this information in PDF format.

To view all updates or Policy Memoranda issued by the New York State Department of Civil Service, visit: https://www.cs.ny.gov/businesssuite/News-and-Advisories/Classification-and-Compensation-Memos/index.cfm

The Department also indicated that replies using email addresses, if any, shown in these postings "will not be read or answered."