NGA Joins State and Local Government Leaders, Urges Congress to Preserve State and Local Cyber Security Grant Program

---

Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson and Minority Leader Jeffries:

As the collective voice of state and local governments, we urge you to reauthorize the State and Local Cyber Security Grant Program (SLCGP). This critical program has provided states and local governments with the resources they need to bolster their cybersecurity defenses and assisted in modernizing technology systems across the country.

On September 2nd, the House Homeland Security Committee voted in an overwhelmingly bi-partisan manner to extend this program, renamed the Protecting Information by Local Leaders for Agency Resilience Act, for ten years. This vote reflects the consensus that cybersecurity is a bipartisan issue, a national security priority and an immediate concern for members on both sides of the aisle. As Congress continues working to reauthorize this grant program, we urge you to strongly support its successful continuation by ensuring that any reauthorization is accompanied by a robust appropriation that will allow the program to meet the goals outlined by its authors. States and localities are firmly committed to protecting our nation’s residents and our infrastructure but cannot achieve the level of security needed without federal support.

Previously, members of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and the National League of Cities, along with representatives of industry, appeared before the Committee to testify to the program’s success in helping recipients achieve important cyber hygiene milestones, improve coordination between state and local governments and to commend its efficient and responsible use of federal funding.

As always, we stand ready to work with you to make our nation’s networks secure, protect critical infrastructure and provide digital services to our citizens. We appreciate your support of efforts at the state and local level to make this very important goal a reality.

Thank you,

Bill McBride
Executive Director
National Governors Association

Doug Robinson
Executive Director
National Association of State Chief Information Officers

Tim Storey
Chief Executive Officer
National Conference of State Legislatures

Trina R. Sheets
Executive Director
National Emergency Management Association

Matthew D. Chase
Executive Director/CEO
National Association of Counties

Clarence Anthony
CEO and Executive Director
National League of Cities

Tom Cochran
CEO and Executive Director
United States Conference of Mayors

David Adkins
Executive Director/CEO
The Council of State Governments

Julia D. Novak
Executive Director
International City/County Management Association

CC: House Committee of Homeland Security Leadership, Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Leadership