HCSHB668--GRANTSTOENHANCECYBERSECURITY
SPONSOR: Houx
COMMITTEEACTION:Voted"DoPasswithHCS"bytheSpecial
CommitteeonHomelandSecuritybyavoteof8to0.
ThefollowingisasummaryoftheHouseCommitteeSubstituteforHB
668.
ThisbillallowstheDepartmentofEconomicDevelopmentto
distributeone-timegrantstoemployersforthepurposeof
enhancingcybersecurity, asdefinedinthebill,tocoverupto90%
ofcybersecurityenhancementcosts.
Indistributinggrants,theDepartmentshallfirstgivepriorityto
anycompanycontractingwiththestateforthepurposeof
protectingcriticalinfrastructure. Followingthispriority,the
Departmentshallreserve50%ofgrantfundingforqualifying
employerswithnomorethan50employeesuntilJanuary1,after
whichanyamountofsuchreservedamountsmaybeissuedtoany
otherwiseeligibleemployer.
Thebilllimitstheamountthatmaybedistributedinanyfiscal
yearto$10millionandthelimittoanyindividualemployerto
$15,000.
TheDepartmentshallcreateanonlineapplicationformaspartof
itswebsitewhichistobethesolemeansofapplyingforgrants.
Employersseekingagrantmustfillouttheapplicationalongwith
documentsoutlininghowitwillenhancecybersecurity, including
plansforhowitwillcovertheremainingcostsforits
cybersecurityenhancement. Thebilllimitsthefactorsthatthe
Departmentmayconsiderinassessinganemployer'sfundingplans.
Anemployerwhoreceivesagrantshallsubmitdocumentationwithin
oneyearfromdistributionshowinghowthegrantfundswerespent.
Inthecaseofemployerswithemployeesandlocationsoutsideof
Missouri,grantfundsshallbeusedonlyforlocationsand
employeesresidinginMissouri.
ThisbillissimilartoHB2436(2022).
Thefollowingisasummaryofthepublictestimonyfromthe
committeehearing. Thetestimonywasbasedontheintroduced
versionofthebill.
PROPONENTS: Supporterssaythatbothlargeandsmallbusinesses
arefacinganever-increasingthreatofcyberattacksandsecurity breaches. Over80%ofbusinessesreportcyberattacksareagrowing
concern. Cyberattacksareespeciallyburdensomeonsmall
businessesthatmustdealwiththeeconomicfalloutandlegal
liabilityofbeinghacked.Thisbillistimely,helpingbusinesses
toenhancetheircybersecurityprotocolsandsecurityknowledge.
TestifyinginpersonforthebillwereRepresentative Houx;
MissouriInsuranceCoalition;MissouriAssociationofCounties;
MicrosoftCorporation;AssociatedIndustriesofMissouri;Missouri
RetailersAssociation;MissouriGrocersAssociation;Missouri
BankersAssociation;GreaterKCChamberofCommerce,CivilCouncil
ofGreaterKC;MissouriPharmacyAssociation;Fortinet;Missouri
DentalAssociation;DavidPearce,UniveristyofCentralMissouri;
andMissouriChamberofCommerceandIndustry.
OPPONENTS: Therewasnooppositionvoicedtothecommittee.
Writtentestimonyhasbeensubmittedforthisbill.Thefull
writtentestimonyandwitnessestestifyingonlinecanbefound
underTestimonyonthebillpageontheHousewebsite.