S 1065 Introduced – State Cybersecurity Grants

Earlier this month Sen. Warner (D,VA) introduced S 1065, the State Cyber Resiliency Act. The bill would establish a new Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) grant program to develop and implement a State cyber resiliency program. This is a companion bill to HR 2130.

Neither Warner nor his sole cosponsor {Sen. Gardner (R,CO)} is a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that the Committee is unlikely to take up this bill for consideration.

There is a possibility that HR 2130, if passed by the House, could make it to the floor of the Senate under the unanimous consent process, but that process is very iffy. It requires the personal support of Sen. McConnel (R,TN) and no member of the Senate objecting to the bill, even objections on grounds unrelated to the provisions of the bill. For this bill, objections to other FEMA grant programs or desire to get more controversial grant legislation to the floor could form a very real basis for objecting to HR 2130 being considered.