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Witnesses urge Congress to reauthorize CISA 2015 and state and local cybersecurity grants before lapse
Summary
Panelists and members from both parties told the subcommittee that reauthorizing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 and the state and local cybersecurity grant program is urgent; witnesses said expiration would sharply reduce information sharing and funding to under-resourced local entities.
Lawmakers and witnesses at a House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing urged Congress to reauthorize the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA 2015) and the state and local cybersecurity grant program, saying both are vital to information sharing and funding for underfunded critical infrastructure operators.
Representative Adam B. Swalwell, the ranking member, said reauthorization must happen promptly. “We cannot allow this critical authority to lapse,” he told the panel, echoing several witnesses. Tatiana Bolton, executive director of the Operational Technology Cybersecurity Coalition, told the committee a lapse would be disruptive: reauthorizing CISA 2015 “is crucial to information sharing and strengthening U.S. collective defense. If the legal protections established by this act were to lapse, this flow of information would be disrupted up to 80 to 90% and national security put in jeopardy.”
Representative Mikey MacGyver (as recorded in the hearing) noted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act created a $1,000,000,000 state and local cybersecurity grant program; witnesses said the program is set to expire in the coming months and that reauthorization is essential to help smaller jurisdictions remove insecure equipment, hire staff and modernize systems.
Why it matters: Witnesses and members said many local utilities, ports and hospitals lack resources to secure OT; Bolton and others argued federal grant support is the most effective way to raise the baseline security posture. Robert Lee and other witnesses added that liability protections and clear, centralized federal channels increase private-sector willingness to share threat information.
Panelists recommended that reauthorization explicitly include OT in statutory language, clarify CISA’s role as the federal gateway for information sharing, and restore information-sharing authorities that facilitate private–public operational collaboration. Members said a clean, near-term extension should be a priority while reforms are considered in parallel.
