S. 658 would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate with a consortium of academic and nonprofit entities to help state and local governments prepare for and respond to cybersecurity risks.
Since 2014, the department has awarded $15 million from existing general grant programs to members of the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium. Members of the consortium deliver cybersecurity training and technical assistance to state and local governments. CBO expects that when implementing S. 658, DHS would establish a new, dedicated grant program to support the consortium, thereby increasing the Department’s total grant spending. CBO estimates that DHS would provide $3 million in new grant funding each year—similar to the amount it currently allocates from other sources. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriations. In total, implementing S. 658 would cost $15 million over the 2022-2026 period.
On April 5, 2021, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 658, the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act of 2021, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on March 17, 2021. The two bills are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their costs are similar. Differences in CBO’s estimates of the cost of implementing the bills reflect the assumption that the bill ordered reported by the House Committee on Homeland Security will be enacted in 2022.
