State Tech Vision

Federal funding currently represents one-third to one-half of state and local IT budgets. These federal grants have traditionally funded major, complex, and expensive state government IT systems going back almost half a century for welfare, child support, child welfare, healthcare and other social services and healthcare related system applications. In many state & local governments, the COVID pandemic strained the operations of these legacy systems with often devastating results.

Recent Federal stimulus funding will provide significant new funding for state and local governments to address some of these issues. Specifically, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan from March 2021 allocates $350 billion for state & local government. These funds may be used to significantly improve IT infrastructure, cybersecurity and operations. There are also billions more stipulated to address modernization, broadband, fraud and other programs.

In addition, many state and local governments are allocating their own budgets particularly for broadband improvements. For example, California alone has included $6 billion toward these efforts.

With few exceptions, most state and local governments begin their new fiscal year on July 1, and most are still working to determine how these new funds will be allocated to IT investment.

Please join MeriTalk for a virtual program to highlight the new federal stimulus program and related funding that’s been provided from Washington to boost state and local IT efforts and hear how they will be applying those funds for modernizing legacy case management systems, expanding broadband, improving cybersecurity, mitigating fraud and other initiatives.

Our program includes viewpoints from Capitol Hill, state and local CIOs and budget officials, Federal agencies, and industry leaders.