Will we return to the ‘golden age of FEMA’?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency could be headed for one of the biggest overhauls in its history. Samantha Penta, associate professor at the University of Albany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, describes for the Priorities Podcast what it might look like for the nation to return to what she called the “golden age of FEMA.” 

This week’s top stories:

Code for America, the civic tech nonprofit, has announced it’s partnering with Anthropic, the developer of Claude, to build new AI-powered tools aimed at helping government caseworkers navigate public benefits policies.

The Hawaii Department of the Attorney General has warned the public about a man falsely claiming to be the state’s chief technology officer, both at national conferences and on online platforms.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week launched Engaged California, a public participation platform designed to gather resident feedback on how artificial intelligence is affecting workers, government services and the broader economy across the state.

New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,Soundcloud or Spotify.