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The Tech Agenda of California's Senators
Education is the top priority in the 107th Congress for California's two senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, as the high-tech industry continues to have trouble filling jobs with skilled U.S. workers.
According to a recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California, the state ranks 43rd in the number of adults who have graduated from high school. It estimated that 19 percent of the state's adults lack high-school diplomas putting California on a level with bottom-ranking states like Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. According to the study, most people who have not completed high school are from the Hispanic community, while 90 percent of black and white students in the state complete high school.
In response, Boxer has been working closely with the San Jose-based Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group (SVMG) to draft an education reform package she has dubbed "E-Education." Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard created SVMG in 1977, and it now has 175 Silicon Valley companies focused on improving quality of life in the region.
Feinstein, meanwhile, said she would be working closely with TechNet, Silicon Valley's bipartisan lobbying group, to push schools to emphasize math and science education. "The major concern of the high-tech community in California is K-12 education and the ability to grow a workforce," Feinstein said in an interview with National Journal's Technology Daily late last month.
The Tech Education Senators
Boxer, who said she carries SVMG's policy agenda with her when she is working on high-tech issues, plans to introduce her bill early this year to get start debate on education policy. The timing likely will coincide with the introduction of President-elect George W. Bush's comprehensive education reform bill.
Joe Hardy, who is Boxer's high-tech legislative assistant, said the package includes three bills. One would provide $160 million in funding for community technology centers and assistance to low-income families to connect them to the Internet. In the fiscal 2001 budget, Clinton won about $45 million in funding for community technology centers.
The second bill in Boxer's package would provide $2 billion in education tax incentives over 10 years, including a reduction in the tax burden on students who receive graduate loans. The third bill would direct the Education Department to call for updates in school curriculums to prepare students for the new economy.
It also would call for technology training and professional development for teachers and for a mechanism for evaluating the success of school tech programs. "There is an evaluation component that is missing," Hardy said. "We aren't asking whether this emphasis on technology is having an impact. Is having a computer better than doing it on the chalkboard?"
Feinstein did not say whether she would introduce a specific education bill but noted that she sponsored legislation last year on H-1B visas that provided increased funding for math and science scholarships for students. The H-1B bill increased the cap on the number of visas for skilled non-U.S. workers, many of whom work in the high-tech industry.
"We can't mandate what the states are doing on education, but that is where the bully pulpit of the Senate can come in," she said.
Two Takes On Privacy
The second-highest high-tech priority is related to consumer privacy. Feinstein sees opt-in privacy legislation as the best option for consumers but is aware that many in the high-tech community want to see an opt-out privacy bill.
"This is where I need to sit down with high-tech companies," she said. "We haven't resolved this issue with privacy. They want opt out, and consumers are best served by an opt-in policy. I myself wouldn't know where to go to opt out, and most people don't either. I think if they are going to sell my personal data, they should have my permission that goes for credit bureaus and insurance companies."
Privacy is among the most controversial high-tech issues, and the industry has no consensus as of yet on how to proceed. With opt-in legislation, businesses would have to ask consumers if they can collect or use their personal information when they peruse Web sites while with opt-out, businesses would have to give consumers the ability to take themselves off database lists collected by companies or tell the business that they cannot use their information for marketing purposes.
Many businesses fear an opt-in bill would stymie the growth of the Internet industry. "The last time I had meeting with high-tech about this, the only ones who were for opt-in were [Hewlett-Packard CEO] Carly Fiorina and [eBay CEO] Meg Whitman," Feinstein said. "I was really pleased to hear that they really recognized this."
In the 106th Congress, Boxer supported S. 2928, the Consumer Internet Privacy Enhancement Act, which she co-sponsored with Sens. John McCain, R-AZ, and John Kerry, D-MA. The bill would have made it unlawful for a Web site to collect personally identifiable information without providing notice to the user that it was doing so and providing the user with an opportunity to limit the use of that personal information.
"I feel very concerned that we could have some bad legislation if we don't get out in front and work with the companies on this, so I teamed with Kerry and McCain, and I am on their bill and I feel this is reasonable," she said.
The Rest Of The Agenda
On another matter, both Boxer and Feinstein have some reservations about supporting legislation to grant the president fast-track trade-negotiating authority. Like many Democrats, they wonder how the president would address environmental and labor issues.
Feinstein, meanwhile, said she would introduce legislation again to reauthorize the Export Administration Act. She also will push again to make the research-and-development tax credit permanent.
Boxer said she would support a multi-year extension of the moratorium on Internet access fees, which expires in October this year. She also supports legislation, numbered S. 2698 in the last Congress, that would give tax breaks to companies that roll out broadband services in underserved rural and urban communities.
Both senators also said they look forward to working with Republicans on tech issues. Boxer said Sens. Gordon Smith, OR, Conrad Burns, MT, and Robert Bennett, UT, are among the most tech-savvy Senate Republicans. Feinstein also said Michael Enzi, R-WY, is among the best-informed GOP senators when it comes to tech issues.
Lastly, when it comes to looking for advice on high-tech issues, Boxer said she picks up the phone to call staff at SVMG. Feinstein talks John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers, or Intel Chairman Andy Grove, according to a Feinstein spokesman.
 | - by Bara Vaida |
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