StateScoop

As cities across the country look for ways to speed up housing development, the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting has debuted a new artificial intelligence tool to reduce residential permitting backlogs and shrink timelines to review applications. https://scoopmedia.co/4uVAXAE

Connecticut residents are set to receive new data privacy protections over the next year, after the legislature passed two updates to the state’s 2023 comprehensive privacy law and Gov. Ned Lamont signed a new law Friday inspired by California’s popular “Delete Act.” https://scoopmedia.co/3RH46AN

Amy Tong, the former California government operations secretary and chief information officer who helped shape the state’s approach to artificial intelligence and digital modernization, has joined lobbying firm Ballard Partners. https://scoopmedia.co/4vry9ej

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced the launch last week of an AI Innovation Lab, a new initiative that aims to equip state agencies with the tools to adopt and experiment with the emerging technology across their operations. https://scoopmedia.co/4uizdQL

The Trump administration’s Federal Emergency Management Agency Review Council is proposing one of the most significant restructurings of federal disaster response in decades, a shift that could dramatically expand the responsibilities of state and local emergency management agencies. https://scoopmedia.co/4o0khVV

The Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology on Wednesday announced an organizational restructuring that included the elimination of 173 employees, the installation of a new chief information officer and a transition to a new operating model. https://scoopmedia.co/4nY4dUs

Catalin Dragomir, the 46-year-old Romanian access broker who sold stolen credentials linked to the computer networks of Oregon’s Department of Emergency Management, was on Tuesday sentenced to four years and eight months in federal prison. https://scoopmedia.co/3QaKBA2

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Tuesday called for the city to treat broadband like a public utility, unveiling a proposal that would expand affordable internet access across the five boroughs. https://scoopmedia.co/4fQO4y3

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is investing $6 million to help states, territories and tribal governments pilot predictive analytics tools in child welfare systems, marking the latest federal push to modernize how agencies support children and families in need. https://scoopmedia.co/3QeXQQf