The designation of the nation’s election systems as critical infrastructure will not infringe upon state and local authority to run elections. In a recent memo to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Members, Ranking Member Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., relayed communications from the Department of Homeland Security that reiterated that fact.

Government purchasing these days isn’t limited to pens, paper, and copy toner. State governments are looking to purchase drones and other emerging technology, and NASPO ValuePoint is there to help. NASPO ValuePoint, a cooperative purchasing program open to state and local governments, is looking into the future of drones and other NextGen technology.

Several states have started weighing alternative plans to the First Responder Network Authority’s initial outlines to create and operate a broadband network that supports first responder groups. Here’s what Arizona, Colorado, and New Hampshire are considering.

Los Angeles County has seen a steady decline in ridership in recent years–annual ridership is down by nearly 3 million in the past three years. The local government is launching a pilot program to combat that decline–free Wi-Fi on county buses.

Many states and localities don’t have the resources to upgrade and protect their election systems from malicious cyber intrusion, and the Federal government should work to provide them with those resources, according to a recent Brennan Center report on election cybersecurity.

This weekend, state and local websites displayed a pro-ISIS message due to a hack that is being claimed by a group called Team System DZ. The hacked sites of Howard County, Md., Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and other local governments temporarily read: “You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries”; and “I love Islamic State.”

During the process of creating the Colorado Trail Explorer, an interactive open data map providing information on 17,000 trails, Colorado’s Department for Parks and Wildlife sent out a call for information from all 221 of the state’s trail managers. The map, launched on June 2, contains data submissions from 90 of those managers.

Money is the single biggest barrier to local governments achieving the highest levels of cybersecurity. From not being able to pay competitive salaries to an insufficient number of cybersecurity staff, local governments are unable to deliver cybersecurity protection because their budgets don’t match their tasks.

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