The Assembly passed a chapter amendment to Senate bill 783 that adjusts a state requirement for municipal websites, establishing a 1,500-resident threshold for which municipalities must have a ".gov" domain and doubling the implementation window from 180 days to one year.

Assemblymember Cace, sponsor of the chapter amendment, told the chamber the changes were negotiated with municipal associations and the administration to reduce the burden on very small local governments. ".Gov, not anyone can get a .gov. Not just anybody. It has to be a government entity," Cace said, describing the federal .gov program's cybersecurity and authenticity benefits and arguing that the amendment balances security and practicability.

Under the chapter amendment, municipalities with fewer than 1,500 residents are not required to obtain a .gov domain; they are asked to implement changes "to the extent practicable" and may instead maintain a page on a town, county or city website. Sponsors told members that roughly 300 municipalities would fall under the threshold out of approximately 1,500 total municipal entities, and that about 80% of those already have a website.

Supporters said moving a municipality's domain to a .gov label is typically simple and need not require a full website rebuild. Critics, notably members representing rural areas, argued the measure still represents an unfunded mandate for communities with minimal staff and limited broadband access. "This is an unfunded mandate for communities that their only paid employees is the highway superintendent," said Assemblymember Angelino, who described districts with limited or no cell service and questioned the imposition of a statewide requirement on small towns.

The chapter amendment also creates flexibility for municipalities required to comply: those entities may host required information as a page on a larger municipal website rather than stand up entirely new infrastructure. The amendment extends the compliance window to a full year to ease implementation costs.

Assemblymember Sempulinski explained his affirmative vote by noting the chapter narrows the bill's earlier reach and removes the requirement for the very smallest towns — he said his district includes the town of Red House, which has about 30 residents. The Assembly recorded the vote on the chapter amendment as Ayes 128, Noes 14.

Sponsors said the chapter amendment reflected negotiated changes with the governor's office, municipal associations and other stakeholders and that opposition from the association of counties had been withdrawn after the revisions. The bill text on the floor referenced the general municipal law as the underlying statute.