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An alleged hack of federal agencies by Russian operators could precipitate more widespread concern for supply chain cybersecurity — a silver lining to a scandal that continues to get bigger, uglier and more complicated.
Join the Center for Digital Government Co-Executive Directors Teri Takai and Phil Bertolini as they gather (virtually) with CIOs to share their favorite holiday recipes.
The number of days since President Trump declared the novel coronavirus a national emergency on March 13, 2020. Two weeks later on March 27, Trump signed the CARES Act into law which was the largest economic recovery package in history.
Washington State’s majority leader, Andy Billig said of the new legislative session that will be done remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Reps. Donald McEachin and Jennifer Wexton, commenting on Virginia’s removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from the capitol’s National Statuary Hall’s collection. (NPR — December 21, 2020)
The estimated number of organizations, including several government agencies, that were impacted by the Russia cyberattack on SolarWinds, a third-party software contractor.
Despite Trump’s continued downplaying of the massive cyberattack, several experts and senators are speaking up to warn of its severity and the worrisome response from the president.
Pasadena and Long Beach, Calif., police have been adamant that their license plate data would not be sent to ICE, but now records suggest that they are sending the info directly to Homeland Security Investigations.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is beginning preparations to support a large increase in electric vehicles over the next eight years. Currently, there are just 14,000 EVs in the utility’s region.
After months of COVID-19 spikes and suffering economies, many Californians are fed up with restrictions and have launched a recall petition that could yield a special statewide election if Gov. Newsom doesn’t fight back.
Still with a few weeks to go, the campaigning for Georgia’s congressional Senate runoffs has already exceeded $370 million. Overall, nine of the 10 most expensive Senate races occurred this year.
The Wisconsin state senator has set a record of service that is unlikely to be broken. The 93-year-old lawmaker started his career when Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House and Alaska and Hawaii were still territories.
The new congressional stimulus package does not include direct aid for states and localities. Only a few states have seen revenues increase from last year, meaning cutbacks are coming due to COVID spending pressures.
Microsoft President Brad Smith, commenting on the hacking campaign against the tech firm SolarWinds that has impacted many of Microsoft’s customers as well as several federal agencies. The ongoing attack is thought to have begun in March 2020. (NPR — Dec. 18, 2020)
The number of federal prisoners in the United States who have tested positive for COVID-19, a rate that is approximately four times higher than for the general public. More than 1,700 have died due to the virus.
The company will provide financial support to the state’s economic recovery initiative that will fund local nonprofits, cover worker wages and help bring students back to classrooms.
The state is one of several to receive federal notice that there will be less doses of the vaccine delivered than originally estimated. It is unclear as to why there have been cutbacks.
Biden has promised to ban new oil, gas leases and maybe hydraulic fracking, which would be a big win for environmental groups. But for states, like New Mexico, the bans could worsen the economy.
Thanks to a major storm in mid-December, New York City has already seen more snowfall than in all of last year. Governing was on the ground as a similar storm descended a few years earlier.
Transfers of power, a hallmark of our constitutional system, often come with shocks to the system. Trump’s refusal to concede may seem unprecedented, but it’s not the first time this has happened.
When a small bump in salary costs more in needed social services than the pay hike brings in, something's wrong. Using broad partnerships, state and federal policymakers are beginning to address the issue.
Players for the Boston Celtics wrote in an op-ed that calls upon Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to restore a police reform bill’s provision that would ban police and public authorities from using facial recognition technology. Gov. Baker has said he wouldn’t sign a bill that had a ban on facial recognition. (The Hill — December 16, 2020)
The estimated number of students that chose not to enroll in college classes this fall, a 3.6 percent decline as compared to last year’s enrollment. While undergraduate college enrollment has been in decline for the past decade, the pandemic has exacerbated the fall as many students can’t justify spending so much money for online classes.
To maintain productivity and safety, some jobs are installing robot coworkers. Labor unions worry that the robots will continue to occupy jobs after the pandemic ends while others say they will free up workers for other positions.
North Carolina accidentally “overpaid” thousands of residents in unemployment benefits and now asks that the claimants give some back. The total overpayment is estimated at $61.5 million.
Lawmakers in much of the country will be doing their work next year by remote control. That will make a tough job even tougher.
Faced with a cascade of unprecedented and overwhelming challenges, legislators still found time to acknowledge the simple pleasures of life, including onions, country music and a hound dog named Jo Jo.
Recent data shows that while overall spending has increased, there is great variation among states on public education expenditures per student. The average is $12,612, but New York spends nearly double that amount.
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For many citizens, their first — and sometimes only — interaction with their government is a call to a citizen engagement center.
Ada County, Idaho, Commissioner Diana Lachiondo, speaking of the hostility that she has received over the recent health board decisions she’s been a part of, including mask mandates to help deter the spread of COVID-19. Across the nation, public officials at local and national levels have seen an increase in threats and harassment. (NPR — Dec. 16, 2020)
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