US lawmakers from both parties and houses of Congress have introduced a bill called the State Cyber Resiliency Act to increase resources to states and local governments for ensuring cybersecurity, reports GCN. The bill was introduced by Representatives Derek Kilmer and Barbara Comstock and Senators Mark Warner and Cory Gardner.

The grant program, say the bill’s sponsors, will increase resources to state and local government bodies so they can strengthen their cyber plans, develop a stronger cybersecurity workforce and fight threats. Currently less than 2% of IT budgets are dedicated to cybersecurity, they claim.

The sponsors backed their bill by citing a 2015 study that reported 50 percent of state and local government had experienced over six breaches the previous two years and added that 2016 had witnessed 200,000 personal voter records being compromised in Arizona and Illinois. This prompted the Department of Homeland Security to label the state voting infrastructure "critical infrastructure."

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