Garbarino Bill To Strengthen Small Business Cybersecurity Becomes Law
The bill was signed into law before the end of the year after passing both the House and Senate with bipartisan support
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-02) is proud to announce that his bill, H.R. 4515 - The Small Business Development Center Cyber Training Act, was signed into law last week by President Biden after passing both Chambers of Congress before the end of the 117th Congress. The Senate version of the bill, S. 1687, was sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).
"Following the recent cyber attack against Suffolk County, Long Islanders are more aware than ever of the dangers of cyber crime, but we must take active steps to safeguard our community from these threats." said Rep. Garbarino. "As both a member of the Small Business Committee and Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation, I spent my first two years in Congress committed to empowering small businesses with the resources necessary to protect themselves and mitigate cyber risks to their financial security and intellectual property. I am pleased that I was able to secure the passage of this bill and see it signed into law as the final action of my first term."
The Small Business Development Center Cyber Training Act would help Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) become better trained to assist small businesses with their cyber security and cyber strategy needs by establishing a cyber counseling certification program. This legislation will authorize the SBA to reimburse SBDCs for employee certification costs up to $350,000 per fiscal year. It would amend section 21 of the Small Business Act and utilize existing federal resources to cover the reimbursement costs.
Cosponsors of the bipartisan bill include Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA-3), Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH-01), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, (D-PA-6), Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-03), Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY-22), Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-NY-19), Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC-07), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5).
"Small businesses often don’t have the resources needed to fight cyber security threats on their own, and our bill would help them to do that. I’m glad we were able to work in a bipartisan way on this bill," said Rep. Evans, co-lead of the bill.
Read the text of the bill here.
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