Assembly panel considers renaming Nevada CIO office to Governor's Technology Office and aligning cybersecurity units

Carson City — The Assembly Committee on Government Affairs on May 26, 2025 heard testimony on Senate Bill 12, a proposal to change the Office of the Chief Information Officer's name and to adjust internal organizational terminology and classifications to reflect its cabinet-level status in the governor's office. The bill was presented by Timothy Galluzzi, State Chief Information Officer in the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Galluzzi told the committee the proposal continues work begun when the office was elevated in the prior session. "The vision of SB 431 that y'all had last session is coming to fruition. It is working," he said, summarizing the office's shift from tactical service delivery to strategic engagement with state agencies.

The measure changes the agency's name to the "Governor's Technology Office," updates unit names (for example, units to divisions), clarifies position titles and classifications, and removes definitions the sponsor said were no longer relevant. Galluzzi said one specific change in section 7 would change a deputy position from classified to unclassified "as a parity issue," noting current deputies who report directly to the chief are unclassified.

Committee members pressed for detail on how SB 12 fits with other pending measures. Galluzzi said SB 12 is intended to align with — not conflict with — other cybersecurity-related legislation. He described a budget implementation bill and earlier measures that would combine the Office of Information Security and the Office of Cyber Defense Coordination into one team and create a statewide security operations center (SOC) as an operational unit under that combined team. "When the Office of Cyber Defense Coordination does, hopefully transition into the Office of the Chief Information Officer, it will combine with the Office of Information Security, and then the security operation center would be effectively an operational unit underneath that combined security team," Galluzzi said.

Committee members also asked about fiscal and staffing impacts. Galluzzi said the fiscal note on SB 12 is limited to rebranding costs and that the bill itself is intended largely to align statutory language with the office's current functioning as a cabinet-level organization, not to create immediate staffing reductions.

Support testimony included Trevor Parrish of the Vegas Chamber, who said the chamber "appreciates the efforts" in SB 12 because it will help streamline and modernize state operations and improve protection of the state's digital infrastructure.

Galluzzi closed by urging the committee to view the bill as continuing the legislature's prior work to place technology at a more strategic level inside the executive branch. "I'm not elected. Let's leave offices named after elected officials, and let's leave that as a sacred distinction," he said.

The committee did not take a vote during the hearing. The chair closed the SB 12 hearing and opened the next item on the agenda.