BIT asks legislature for $5 million IT modernization, new cybersecurity staff and mainframe contractor as statewide tech demands grow

The Bureau of Information and Telecommunications (BIT) presented its FY2026 budget requests and a multi‑year modernization plan to a joint legislative budget work group, asking for a $5 million onetime IT modernization appropriation, three new cybersecurity FTEs, contract support for legacy mainframe systems and several ongoing licensing and infrastructure upgrades.

BIT Commissioner Madhu Gautamukula and finance officer Morgan Greeble told legislators the IT modernization fund (House Bill 1046 was referenced as the vehicle for a prior-year transfer) has funded projects such as the citizen portal and several agency website and service upgrades. The bureau said $5 million would allow BIT to respond to small‑ and medium-sized urgent projects and continue near‑term modernization work; BIT described the amount as useful but insufficient to eliminate the state’s broader estimated legacy‑systems costs.

Why it matters: BIT supports critical statewide services — state radio for first responders, the data center, the citizen portal that hosts about 150 services, and centralized telecom and cybersecurity. BIT argued targeted investments reduce outage and security…