Some updates from the midterm elections –Alabama and New Mexico voters signed off on amendments to their state constitutions removing barriers to funding to boost internet access. Both states had restrictions on local governments providing aid or grants to private entities, which created a major hurdle for officials to disperse the broadband funding it received through the covid-19 economic recovery package signed into law last March.
The approved amendments will create exceptions allowing officials at the state or local level to dole out broadband funds more efficiently.
In Montana, by a more than 4 in 5 vote count, voters backed an amendment to their state constitution explicitly banning law enforcement from seizing consumers’ personal data without a warrant.
Also of note – Axios covering how, despite the elections, most of the key players in Congress remain the same, mainly as most cyber legislation is bipartisan. –Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, who has long been considered the go-to lawmaker on cybersecurity – will still lead the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
The Biden administration wrapped a 120-cybersecurity sprint this week, seeing more than seven thousand apprentices get hired, and added 200 more new Registered Apprenticeship programs. Guess who is joining these programs? McDonald’s, launching its own registered cybersecurity apprenticeship program.
With 2023 looming, I want to link to a piece on eye on privacy that outlines the current state of play for data privacy laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia. January 1 will be an important date for many of those laws.
Also on the radar, Bloomberg is reporting that there may be a push on antitrust by the White House during the remaining portion of the Congressional session.
Why do we care?
Two areas to care about – there continues to be motion on cyber and data-related laws, and as I keep observing, this is becoming a top role for a provider to monitor.
Second are those cybersecurity apprenticeships – if I were a provider, I’d be considering gearing up my participation in these programs. Talent acquisition and retention remain top priorities – and here’s part of the solution.