Keeping Up With Technology.

• Author: Greenberg, Pam
• Position: TRENDS - Congressional bipartisan caucuses

Congress has hundreds of special caucuses, from a Cannabis Caucus to a Motorcycle Caucus. Tech interests are represented by, among others, the Cybersecurity Caucus, Blockchain Caucus, Internet Caucus, and the Caucus on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Technologies, formed just last year. These mostly bipartisan caucuses support innovation and address the challenges new technologies face. The same is happening on the state level.

Likeminded lawmakers in at least seven states have formed caucuses to deal with the rapidly developing and changing tech industry and to promote competitiveness and job creation.

California's bipartisan Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus, for example, includes both chambers and identifies specific technology-related bills to support each year. Bills on the group's recent priority list addressed ransomware, autonomous vehicles and electronic signatures.

The Colorado Legislative Tech Caucus--which focuses on tech talent, emerging technology and modernizing tech policy--studied blockchain technology this year, since two bills related to this new way of tracking digital transactions were making their way through the Statehouse. The caucus, in cooperation with the Colorado Technology Association, held an informational meeting on what the technology is, how it works, its potential benefits and challenges. The members heard about other states' experiences and discussed what effect regulations might have on the industry in Colorado.

The Texas House Innovation and Technology Caucus...