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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: flatsville who wrote (6558)	7/14/1999 1:20:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

'Forecast for 1999: The Gathering Storm' gold-eagle.com

To: flatsville who wrote (6558)	7/14/1999 3:27:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

'Bill seeks to coordinate millennium planning State legislative panel to hear measure that would, among other provisions, give governor power to declare a state of emergency By Bryce G. Hoffman TIMES STAFF WRITER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FREMONT -- A key vote is expected today in Sacramento on a bill that would allow California's millennium bug bashers to launch a coordinated campaign to fix the state's computers and give the governor the power to declare a state of emergency on Jan. 1. Assembly Bill 724 is the latest piece of Y2K legislation from Assemblyman John Dutra, D-Fremont. Today's vote by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee is the bill's first test in the Senate. Though still in his freshman year, Dutra has emerged as one of the leading advocates of Y2K readiness in the Legislature. As chairman of the Assembly's Information Technology Committee, this Silicon Valley representative has made the millennium bug his top priority. He has already gone to the mat over legislation to limit Y2K liability for California companies and public agencies. Dutra lost that battle; he is planning to win this one. Dutra says AB 724, dubbed the "Year 2000 Problem Good Government Omnibus Act of 1999," will give the state the authority it needs to tackle the Y2K problem and prepare for all eventualities. The bill covers many of the same points as an executive order signed by Gov. Gray Davis in February, but Dutra said his legislation expands on the governor's order and will provide legislative validation for his decree. "It reinforces the governor's order," Dutra said. "We worked very closely with him on this bill." One provision of Dutra's bill would give the governor the power to declare a state of emergency prior to any actual crisis in California. Dutra called this a critical provision because it would allow Davis to take advantage of California's position relevant to the International Dateline. Since this state will be one of the last areas of the industrial world to enter the new century, the governor will have several hours to evaluate the effects of the Y2K problem on other countries and respond accordingly. The bill would also appropriate $2 million for a public awareness campaign -- something Dutra said is long past due. Public safety officials up and down the state are calling for an information campaign that would encourage Americans to prepare for Y2K without panicking about it, Dutra said. He called the $2 million figure insufficient, but said he wants to get the bill passed. Anything higher would have drawn fire from fiscal conservatives, he said. Dutra's legislation would extend certain protections to Californians who lend a hand in the event of a Y2K-related crisis. Any Californian who volunteers to help emergency officials cope with problems created by the computer glitch would be covered by state workers compensation and liability insurance for the duration of their service. Those who pitch in deserve such protection, Dutra said. He also hopes the gesture will promote volunteerism. But the most important provisions of Dutra's bill are those relating to the state's Department of Information Technology. Davis has already tapped the department to head California's Y2K readiness efforts. Dutra's legislation would expand that authority, giving the department the power to force other state agencies into compliance. Under the provisions of Dutra's legislation, the department would have the authority to take over any agencies that are lagging in their Y2K work. It would have the power to reassign staff and redirect resources. The bill also allows the department to pool the state's 10,000 computer technicians and assign them to Y2K projects in any state agency. In short, it gives the department's director, Elias Cortez, the power to do anything necessary to make sure that all state agencies are ready for 2000. "We made it very clear in our bill that he does have that authority," Dutra said. "As we get closer to the end of the year, (Cortez) is going to start exercising that authority." What opposition there has been to Dutra's bill has come from the pharmaceutical industry, which objected to language guaranteeing all Californians a 60-day supply of their prescription medications. Both the president's Y2K council and the American Red Cross have recommended that people who depend on prescription medications keep an extra 60-day supply on hand in case computer failures disrupt manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceuticals. But the pharmaceutical companies say such measures are unnecessary. Dutra has reached a compromise with the industry's representatives that will allow Californians to get extra medication but that eliminates the specific reference to 60 days. "There is no opposition to the bill at this point," he said. ... hotcoco.com