Committee urged to protect CISA funding and reauthorize state and local cybersecurity grants; witnesses back workforce bills

Members of the House Homeland Security Committee and witnesses debated the role and resourcing of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), federal grant programs for state and local governments, and workforce legislation to close an acute shortage of cybersecurity personnel.

Ranking Member Thompson reviewed the law that created CISA and said bipartisan Congresses built the agency’s authorities and funding. He warned that proposals to curtail CISA would undermine those efforts and stressed the agency’s role in resisting nation‑state threats. “We have to be clear‑eyed about the enormous task ahead,” Thompson said, referencing a history of bipartisan support for CISA’s mission.

Brandon Wales, vice president for cybersecurity strategy at Centennial 1 and former acting executive director of CISA, told members the agency “is essential both because it has unique sets of authorities and resources to tackle this problem.” He suggested CISA should be the sector risk‑management lead and receive clearer authority to coordinate across federal agencies and with the private sector.

Witnesses repeatedly urged Congress to reauthorize statutory tools that enable industry and government to share cyber threat information. Kimba Walden recommended Congress reauthorize the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 and strengthen liability protections for defensive information sharing that helps public‑private coordination.

Multiple panelists endorsed reauthorizing and expanding the state and local cybersecurity grant program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and asked Congress to extend that funding stream, which one witness said “expires in September.” The program, witnesses said, funds technical assistance and can address legacy technical debt among local governments, schools and utilities.

Workforce was a recurring theme. Mark Montgomery and others endorsed the Cyber Pivot Act — legislation from the prior Congress intended to scale hiring and apprenticeship pathways into public‑sector cyber roles. Montgomery said the United States must “hire more talent for federal, state and local governments” and suggested vocational and community‑college pathways.

Committee members asked witnesses about CISA’s information‑sharing mechanisms, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), and whether additional authorities or funding are needed. Wales and other witnesses said JCDC needs real‑time capabilities beyond a “Slack channel” and recommended statutory authorization to give the collaborative planning, information‑sharing and operational elements needed for faster, operational cooperation.

Why this matters: Witnesses linked effective incident response and prevention to sustained funding for CISA, statutory authorities that encourage private‑sector sharing, and a much larger cyber workforce. Several members said shortfalls in these areas increase vulnerability across state and local governments and critical infrastructure.