Review - HR 8970 Introduced – Junior College Cybersecurity Education

Last month, Rep McClain (R,MI) introduced HR 8970, the National Community College Cybersecurity Challenge Act. The bill would provide for a challenge grant program for States to increase the number of cybersecurity programs run by Community Colleges within the State. The bill would authorize $250 million per year for the program through 2027. The bill would also authorize a workforce innovation fund with a one-time spending authorization of $150 million.

Moving Forward

McClain is a member of the House Education and Labor Committee to which this Committee was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see this bill considered in Committee. There may be some Democratic opposition to this bill because of the recission of funds provision in the bill, though it may attract Republican support. I suspect that this bill would pass in Committee with some level of bipartisan support.

Depending on the level of support in Committee, this bill may be able to move to the House floor under the suspension of the rules process. The bill is unlikely to be considered in the Senate due to time constraints in the remainder of the session and the relative unimportance of the bill.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8970-introduced - subscription required.