Assembly committee gives unanimous do-pass to bill moving cyber defense office to state CIO and creating unified cybersecurity office

The Assembly Committee on Government Affairs gave a unanimous do-pass recommendation to Senate Bill 467, which transfers the Office of Cyber Defense Coordination (OCDC) from the Department of Public Safety to the Office of the Chief Information Officer and merges it with the Office of Information Security to create the Office of Information Security and Cyber Defense.

The bill, presented to the committee by State Chief Information Officer Timothy Galuzzi, implements a previously approved budget decision unit and moves statutory language from NRS Chapter 480 into NRS Chapter 242 while creating a single executive‑branch cybersecurity office. Galuzzi said the measure is intended to clarify roles and reduce overlap between an office focused inwardly on executive-branch information security and a unit that coordinates externally with municipal entities, counties and cities.

"The intent of this section is to publish a strategic plan that enables best practices recommendations and guidelines, not mandates," Galuzzi told the committee, referring to section 13 of the bill.

The bill also includes provisions requiring public disclosure of certain cybersecurity incident response plans and reports while protecting operational details that would aid adversaries (sections 1, 15 and 16); moves OCDC language into NRS Chapter 242 (sections 2, 3, 15–16, 26–27); merges OCDC with Office of Information Security (section 17); clarifies leadership and a new deputy director role (sections 18 and 31); requires the CIO to adopt implementing regulations (section 19); and repeals OCDC provisions from NRS Chapter 480 (section 35). Section 12 covers authority for incident response teams and asks municipal entities to notify the state office when they suspect or confirm incidents.

Representatives of municipal government praised the consolidation. Randy Robison, director of government affairs for the City of Las Vegas, said the city worked with the CIO’s office on the bill and welcomed Galuzzi’s on‑the‑record clarification that the strategic plan will provide recommendations rather than mandates. Will Adler, speaking on behalf of Story County and the Next NV incubator, called cybersecurity "the number one issue facing counties today" and voiced support for additional state resources.

On procedural action, Vice Chair Nguyen moved a do-pass recommendation and Assemblymember Flanagan seconded. The committee recorded a unanimous vote in favor; the motion carried. Members recorded as voting yes included Assemblymembers Carter, DeLong, Da Silva, EdgeWorth, Flanagan, Gallant, Goulding, Gur, Hunt, Jackson, Karras, Kassama, Wynn and Chair Considine. The committee assigned a floor statement to Assemblymember DeLong.

Sponsor Galuzzi told members the bill is the immediate consolidation needed for the current posture of state cyber defense and pledged to continue working with the Legislature during the interim to identify next steps.

Per Assembly rules noted during the meeting, Speaker Yeager authorized final floor action on bills heard that day within 24 hours, and the committee opened a work session and then voted the recommendation.

The bill now moves on through the legislative process with a do-pass recommendation and will next appear for floor consideration per the Assembly calendar.