The House has approved legislation to renew the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program for a decade, aimed at bolstering digital defenses for state and local governments. This program, which has allocated $1 billion since its inception, lapsed on September 30 and is critical for enhancing cybersecurity amid rising threats. Representative Andy Ogles emphasized that this initiative is vital for national security, stating that local governments are on the “frontlines” of cybersecurity. Additionally, lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act, which will establish an interagency task force to combat cyber threats, particularly from the Chinese government, underscoring a proactive approach to these escalating issues.
Two bills aimed at enhancing the Small Business Administration’s capacity to deliver artificial intelligence services are advancing in the House of Representatives. The AI for Mainstreet Act and the AI Wisdom for Innovative Small Enterprises Act, both bipartisan initiatives, received overwhelming support from the House Small Business Committee and are set for a full chamber vote. These bills aim to ensure that small businesses remain competitive as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integral to various industries. The AI for Mainstreet Act directs Small Business Development Centers to provide training and resources, while the AI-WISE Act focuses on creating educational materials about AI risks and best practices. Republican Roger Williams emphasized that Congress must help small businesses bridge the technological gap, stating, “Technology won’t wait for small businesses to catch up.” The legislation is designed to empower small business owners with the tools and knowledge necessary to effectively adopt AI in their operations.
Perplexity AI has become the second artificial intelligence platform to receive prioritized authorization under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, following OpenAI. This approval allows Perplexity’s Enterprise Pro for Government product to be offered to federal agencies at a significantly reduced price of 25 cents per agency, as part of a direct deal with the General Services Administration. The GSA emphasized that this agreement marks a departure from traditional procurement processes, allowing government agencies to work directly with technology vendors to streamline contracting and reduce costs. Perplexity’s platform leverages large language models from various providers and is designed to enhance real-time internet searches while ensuring enterprise-level security for federal workers accessing the platform from government networks. This initiative aligns with the GSA’s OneGov strategy, which aims to make advanced AI capabilities readily available to federal agencies in 2025.
Why do we care?
The renewed cyber grant program means state and local governments will suddenly have money again, and money comes with expectations. They’re going to want better identity management, better logging, better incident response, and they’re going to expect you to help operationalize that. This isn’t “nice to have.” It’s the new baseline.
On the SMB side, Congress is funding AI education through SBDCs. That means the basic AI conversations — “What is it?” “How do I use it?” — are going to get commoditized. Clients will already know the basics. What they won’t have is a way to deploy AI safely, integrate it into workflows, or govern it. That’s where MSPs have to live.
And Perplexity getting FedRAMP at 25 cents per agency? That’s wild. It tells you the government wants AI in the stack now, and they’re willing to bypass traditional procurement to make it happen. But FedRAMP doesn’t make these tools perfect — they still hallucinate, still struggle with reasoning, and still create risk. Agencies will need help using them responsibly. Plus, note that a startup got there faster than established MSP platforms. Just sayin’.
This is the next wave of expectations. Cyber maturity, AI literacy, and compliance frameworks are all being driven down-market by public policy. The MSPs who get ahead of this — with governance, documentation, and real advisory value — will win the next decade.