Jesse Scheckner
Senate and House members are moving closer on budget issues, including cybersecurity earmarks, but there’s still a $15 million difference between the chambers on how much counties and cities should get to defend against digital attacks.
The House wants to set aside the full sum for local cybersecurity assistant grants. The Senate’s offer? Nada.
At the first Budget Conference on Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations lawmakers held since they reconvened in Tallahassee this week, the chambers agreed on many cyber-focused spending plans across multiple departments.
But one notable gap remained after they adjourned just after 12:30 p.m., a $15 million nonrecurring apportionment the House proposes using for a competitive grant program through which localities can get help developing and enhancing their cybersecurity operations.
A House proviso for the item said the funds, drawn from the general fund and placed in reserve, would go to local governments through the Department of Management Services (DMS) based on “eligibility and award criteria documentation.”
DMS would then be responsible for reporting to the Senate, House and Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget on the program’s activities within three weeks of the completion of a grant application cycle.
So far, the Senate has not provided the House a counteroffer, leaving the budget line open.
The proposed $15 million funding follows a $40 million round of grants the state offered during the 2024-25 fiscal year, the most recent action of which was the April 11 addition of links to a new grants portal, account request form and agreements for a second round of awards.
Talking to media Tuesday, Budget Conference Chair Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Lake Mary Republican, described cybersecurity as an “evergreen” issue lawmakers must tackle every year. To make that job easier, he said, the state must pursue a “comprehensive system” for the state that local governments can look to as a model when building out their own systems.
“One thing I think that fatigues appropriators and legislators every year is agencies and other state entities coming to us to say, ‘Our projects have overruns. We need more money,’” he said.
“They don’t talk to each other. We want to make sure there’s an integrated system. It’s very complicated.”
Miami Republican Rep. Vicki Lopez, the conference’s Vice Chair, noted that House considerations for cybersecurity include more reporting requirements from Florida agencies and local recipients of state dollars.
“Because we had so many cybersecurity packages that we heard in our (information technology) committee, I want more specifics in it, and I want to make sure we know what we’re funding,” she said. “I mean specifically, not just broad statements that seem to be coming out of DMS.”
