Bill Text: NJ S3220 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes cybersecurity employment grant program for qualified businesses; appropriates $750,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-13 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S3220 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S3220-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator RAJ MUKHERJI
District 32 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes cybersecurity employment grant program for qualified businesses; appropriates $750,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a cybersecurity employment grant program in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, supplementing P.L.1974, c.80 (C.34:1B-1 et seq.) , and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Cybersecurity specialist" means an information technology specialist who monitors, detects, investigates, analyzes, and responds to security events that target a business's information technology system with the goal of protecting the system from cybersecurity risks, threats, and vulnerabilities.
"Department" means the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
"Program" means the cybersecurity employment grant program, established pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
"Qualified small to mid-size business" means a business entity employing fewer than 500 employees that, at the time of application for participation in the program, is independently owned and operated, operates primarily within this State, and which satisfies other criteria that may be established by the department.
2. There is established within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development a cybersecurity employment grant program. The program shall award grants, in an amount as determined by the department, to one or more qualified small to mid-sized businesses to assist with the establishment and hiring of a cybersecurity specialist position within the business at a location within this State. The award of a grant to a qualified business shall be limited to the cost of establishing and hiring a cybersecurity specialist and shall be applied to cover the startup salary cost for a cybersecurity specialist for one year.
3. a. In addition to any monies appropriated to the department to effectuate the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the program shall also be credited with:
(1) any additional monies made available by the department for the purposes of the program; and
(2) monies received by the department from any public or private source for the purposes of the program, the coordination and consolidation of which shall enhance efforts to establish and hire cybersecurity specialist positions within qualified small to mid-sized businesses.
b. The department is authorized to seek and accept gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for funding the costs of the program, except that the department may not accept a gift, grant, or donation that is subject to conditions that are inconsistent with any other law of this State.
4. In order to be eligible for a grant awarded under the program, an applicant shall:
a. submit proof that it is a qualified small to mid-size business, as defined in this bill;
b. submit all of the documentation required by the department to receive a grant under the program; and
c. conform to all of the requirements of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
5. A small to mid-size business seeking to participate in the program shall submit an application in a form and manner as the department shall require. The application shall include information the department determines is necessary to administer the program, and to ensure the eligibility of applicants. The department shall review and may approve an application for the program.
6. The department shall:
a. in consultation with the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the Department of Banking and Insurance, and the Office of the Attorney General, administer the program to assist a qualified small to mid-size business with the establishment and hiring of a cybersecurity specialist position within that business. The grants awarded by the department shall be used solely for the purpose of hiring personnel approved by the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell;
b. adopt rules and regulations requiring that not less than the hourly or annual mean wage for the Bureau of Labor Statistics federal job code 15-1212 is paid to cybersecurity specialists in the metropolitan or nonmetropolitan area in which an employer is located, pursuant to the most recently published Occupational Employment Statistics wage survey; and
c. when setting the size of grants to be awarded under the program, seek to balance available funds against the amount of a grant necessary to incentivize an applicant to hire a cybersecurity specialist and the unmet Statewide need among small and mid-size businesses for cybersecurity staffing in order to maximize the impact of limited funding availability.
7. a. Each qualified small to mid-size business grant recipient shall provide quarterly reports to the department verifying the establishment and hiring of a cybersecurity specialist, documentation of expenditures from a grant awarded by the department, and any other information required by the department to ensure compliance with the provisions of the program as determined by the department.
b. The department shall report annually to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature on the functioning of the program and whether the program meets the needs of qualified small to mid-sized businesses. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the number and locations of qualified small to mid-sized businesses participating in the program, the number of cybersecurity specialist positions created or hired by those qualified small to mid-sized businesses, and the amount of any grants awarded to those qualified small to mid-sized businesses.
8. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the department $750,000 to administer the program established pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
9. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a program in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) for the purpose of awarding grants for the creation and establishment of cybersecurity specialist positions in small to mid-sized businesses located in New Jersey.
Under the program, the DOLWD is to provide grants, in an amount as determined by the DOLWD, to one or more "qualified small to mid-sized business" to assist with the establishment and hiring of a "cybersecurity specialist position," as defined in the bill, within that business. Under the bill, the term "qualified small to mid-sized business" would include a business entity employing fewer than 500 employees that is independently owned and operated, that operates primarily within this State, and that satisfies other criteria that may be established by the DOLWD.
The bill establishes eligibility requirements for business participation in the program. Additionally, the bill designates the responsibilities of both the DOLWD, such as the DOLWD's responsibility to work in conjunction with the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the Department of Banking and Insurance, and the Office of the Attorney General in administering the program, and the participating small to mid-sized businesses, such as the responsibility to provide quarterly reports to the DOLWD.
The bill includes an appropriation of $750,000 from the General Fund to the DOLWD to administer the program.
