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Arkansas Clears Several Tech Initiatives
by Liza Porteus
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, R, this week praised the state's General Assembly for clearing several technology initiatives in his legislative package in the legislative session that ended last Friday.
"Technological advances have given us an unprecedented opportunity to stem the growth of government, make state operations less expensive and at the same time provide a better quality of service," Huckabee wrote in his weekly e-mail address. "Thanks to the actions we've taken this session and the previous legislative session, we're further along than a lot of states."
Huckabee specifically lauded lawmakers for clearing a bill, H.B.1624, that establishes the position of chief information officer (CIO) for the state and creates a CIO council to assist the chief. "This is the centerpiece of the technology package," Huckabee said.
The legislature also cleared the following measures:
- H.B.1003, which requires Internet filters for public school libraries and public libraries.
- H.B. 1523, which funds the Arkansas Wireless Information Network working group, whose goal is to move toward a single statewide system for delivering emergency services. The legislature also cleared H.B. 1527, which establishes procedures for the working group.
- H.B. 1875, which establishes a state council to evaluate justice information systems.
- H.B. 2403, which requires state agencies to develop policies regarding Internet use.
- H.B. 2500, which calls for a study on establishing an Arkansas Infrastructure Technology Fund that would compile money generated by technology initiatives and then fund statewide enterprise projects to enhance technological advancement.
- S.B.159, which establishes standards and criteria for electronic contracts, electronic transactions and e-signatures.
- S.B. 358, which changes state procurement laws to simplify electronic purchasing for agencies.
- S.B. 495 and S.B. 580, which fully implement a state geographic information systems project designed to enable companies around the world to search a database of Arkansas locations to find the sites that best suit their needs.
Strikes, Ergonomics and Budgets
Washington state's largest employees' union, the Washington Federation of State Employees, started its first strike Wednesday to seek cost-of-living increases, caps on employee health-insurance costs and extra pay for workers whose salaries lag most behind their private-sector counterparts.
Although the legislative session technically ends Monday, state lawmakers still must convene next week or later to resolve the budget, which must be approved by June 30. Striking workers hope to use that time to make their point about pay and benefits.
Every two years, the state's personnel department conducts a salary survey, and that survey continues to show that the pay of government workers, particularly those in technology-related jobs, lags 13 percent behind private-sector pay scales for people employed in state agencies and 15 percent behind for workers in state colleges.
"The legislature hasn't fully implemented the findings of that salary survey since 1969," federation spokesman Tim Welch told National Journal's Technology Daily, and "the gap continues to grow. ... [This information is] presented to the legislature and it's routinely ignored."
Some state Republican lawmakers blasted the union for striking when private-sector layoffs are mounting and the state faces its worst budget situation in years, The Seattle Times reported. "It would be the stupidest thing in the world the public employees could do right now," said Sen. Don Benton, R.
During the legislature's budget session, aides said lawmakers also could move to stall new statewide ergonomics rules. The rules, approved by the state's labor department last year, are similar to the national rules the Clinton administration approved last year but that Congress and President Bush overturned a few months later. They would mandate new requirements on how businesses should address repetitive stress injuries in the workforce.
The legislature considered two bills on the issue. H.B. 1896 never made it past the hearing stage in the House Commerce and Labor Committee, but the Senate passed the sister bill, S.B. 5882. The House committee did not consider the Senate version before the deadline for action, but that means the measure "could have life later on" in the form of a rider attachment to the budget, a House Commerce and Labor staffer said.
The Senate bill would delay implementation of the ergonomics rules for two years. It also would require the state to further study ergonomics pilot projects in Washington to evaluate their effectiveness and costs to employers, and it would authorize a $5 million annual fund to make education grants to organizations, unions and businesses in an effort to increase awareness about ergonomics among the workforce.
Detroit Mayor To Step Down
Detroit Mayor and National League of Cities (NLC) President Dennis Archer announced on Wednesday that he would not seek a third term as mayor in November.
Archer was elected NLC president in December. A former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, Archer took office in 1993 and won re-election in 1997. In its annual "Public Officials of the Year" awards this year, Governing magazine honored Archer for his leadership in spearheading a broad economic and social resurgence in his city.
Archer has served on the NLC board of directors, was a vice chairman of the Community and Economic Development Policy Committee, and served on the NLC's Election '96 Task Force. He also has served on the board of trustees of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and as the president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.
Leavitt Plugs His Technology Plan
Utah Republican Gov. Michael Leavitt last week touted his "High Tech/High Touch" approach to creating high-tech "smart sites" to jumpstart rural economies around the state, reports The Deseret News. He showcased the approach at the Utah Small Cities Annual Retreat attended by more than 40 mayors, economic development directors and other community officials.
The high-tech aspect of Leavitt's approach calls for an alliance between Silicon Valley companies and Utah technology workers. It involves creating "smart sites" staffed by a technologically astute rural Utahans, and those workers do software testing and database management that has been outsourced from Silicon Valley-based businesses.
The "high touch" aspect of Leavitt's plan encourages tourists to linger in the communities they visit. Certain regions will be designated as official "heritage areas," where visitors will be urged to get involved in local events and "edutainment" opportunities to learn about Utah's history.
In other Utah news, The Deseret News reports that the state Committee of Consumer Service opposes a proposed Public Service Commission rule that would set price caps and floors for telecommunications services in Utah. The committee voted this week to tell the commission the proposed rule could trigger unjust and unreasonable rates, and it urged a review of the proposal.
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