Cybersecurity Policy Report, DHS to Ask States About Effectiveness of Cybersecurity Grant Program, (May 29, 2026)
The Department of Homeland Security intends to ask state officials to evaluate the effectiveness of an expired state and local cybersecurity grant program, according to a Federal Register notice due to be published on Monday.
The survey will be conducted by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency, which co-administered the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP).
Originally authorized by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the SLCGP provided $1 billion over four years to help state and local governments assess their cybersecurity needs and develop programs to address those needs.
The final SLCGP grants have been issued, but legislation to reauthorize the program is pending in the Senate (CPR, Dec. 2, 2025). The House has already approved a bill that would renew the program, the Protecting Information by Local Leaders for Agency Resilience (PILLAR) Act (HR 5078).
The program’s evaluation will “inform future program iterations and shape policy developments related to cybersecurity grant management. Relevant findings will be incorporated into required reports to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the program's early outcomes and effectiveness,” DHS said in the Federal Registernotice.
“This evaluation will additionally examine how effectively grant funds are being utilized, understand challenges and successes grant recipients have encountered implementing funds to date, and measure progress made towards the program’s short- and medium-term outcomes,” it said.
State and local officials that received the grants will be asked to complete an online survey regarding their use of the grant money and the program’s effectiveness, the notice explains. They will be asked, among other things, whether they “leveraged new technology and cybersecurity tools to mitigate cybersecurity threats and incidents” and whether any “barriers” prevented them from using the grant funds.
The DHS notice seeks approval from OMB to conduct the survey and requests comments on its plans for the survey. Comments will be due 60 days after publication of the notice in the Federal Register and should be filed in docket CISA-2026-0067 at regulations.gov.
News: FederalLegislation DataSecurity