An unexpected systemwide outage of state government computers caused significant disruptions across various departments and offices on Thursday. The outage, which lasted for several hours, impacted critical functions such as the work of the Legislature and services provided by driver's licensing offices.
The state Office of the Chief Information Officer confirmed that the outage affected all state connections, leading to the shutdown of most state office websites, including those of the Health and Human Services and Transportation departments. Even the lighted board in the legislative chamber that displays lawmakers' votes was rendered inoperable.
The outage's impact was severe enough that the Legislature was forced to adjourn less than an hour after convening, without being able to debate a slate of bills scheduled for consideration. However, lawmakers managed to conduct afternoon committee hearings on proposed legislation once the systems were restored.
State websites and communications were back online before 1 p.m., although the exact cause of the shutdown remained undisclosed at the time. A spokesperson for the chief information officer mentioned that an investigation into the root cause was ongoing and it was too early to determine if the outage was a result of a malicious act.
The Governor's office, which also experienced website downtime, stated that they did not have additional information regarding the cause of the outage. The incident highlighted the vulnerability of state computer systems and the potential impact of such disruptions on essential government functions.
