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Arkansas Tackles Online Education, Computer Waste
by Liza Porteus
Online education and computer recycling are two topics being debated by an Arkansas legislative committee, as one lawmaker says the state is losing its valiant battle to stay on the cutting edge of the e-government wave.
On Sept. 25, members of the Advanced Communications and Information Technology Joint Committee adopted a proposal to determine state agencies' roles in online education programs. State Sen. Kevin Smith, the committee's co-chairman, told National Journal's Technology Daily that given the state's teacher shortage and remoteness, many schools have employed distance-learning programs between schools to save money.
"What we're finding, basically, is it's becoming more popular," Smith said. "The state is trying to play a role in the study like a moderator ... and also with some stick behind it, that we're going to agree to a price structure here so we're not undercutting it," Smith said. The study will be prepared for the legislature, which convenes in January 2003.
The committee also debated the progress being made on a Smith-sponsored law enacted this year to better manage discarded computers and electronic equipment. Smith said that Arkansas is one of the first states to pass such a measure. California and Massachusetts also have moved to regulate old computers and other electronic equipment, which contain high levels of mercury.
Smith's measure prohibits computers and other electronics from being dumped in state landfills and sets a 2005 deadline for when the ban takes complete effect. It also calls for the establishment of an educational recycling program.
Smith also said that although the state has worked hard to launch other e-government initiatives, some of them are not as good as they could be. "It can be a nightmare if you don't do it right," he said. "State governments, like most governments, tend to manage things on a crisis basis -- and that's not a way to manage technology."
Smith said "it's one step forward and two steps back in Arkansas" as the state tries to beat others in automating processes like accounting programs or complying with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. "I think we started off trying to be a model for other states ... and we're going to end up being an example of how not to do it," he said.
Bringing Broadband To The North Country
New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen has signed a contract with a company that will help expand affordable, high-speed telecommunications services for businesses in the northern part of the Granite State.
"Almost every company now depends on the Internet to conduct their day-to-day business," Shaheen said in a statement. "To attract them to our state, our telecommunications prices must be competitive."
Shaheen modeled the initiative after Berkshire Connect, which expanded affordable telecom services in Western Massachusetts. North Country Connect, an economic development project that searches for low-cost broadband service providers, has signed an agreement with Global Crossing and Equal Access Networks to reduce telecom prices by up to 60 percent. Monadnock Connect, a similar initiative aimed at western New Hampshire, already is underway.
In July, Shaheen asked New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and Bob Smith, both Republicans, to support a proposal, introduced by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.,to expand affordable high-speed Internet access to rural areas of western New England and, eventually, all of New Hampshire. The plan seeks $500,000 for the Western New England Connectivity program.
Shaheen also signed the following tech-related measures into law this year:
- H.B. 109, which establishes a committee to study consumer-protection efforts in New Hampshire.
- H.B. 124, which establishes a committee to study online and electronic voting.
- H.B. 142, which establishes a committee to study encryption of confidential information such as Social Security numbers and health information. The committee is to report possible legislative recommendations by Nov. 1.
- H.B. 402, which requires providers of telephone service in the state to participate in outreach programs to low-income telephone customers and to contribute to a fund designed to provide universal telephone service.
- H.B. 412, which requires a higher education committee to study the feasibility of granting franchise rights to the providers of online education courses.
- H.B. 481, which requires communications carriers to provide certain business records to the attorney general if the official submits a written request aimed at determining if the carrier is violating federal law.
- H.B. 554, which establishes a division of information technology within the Department of Safety.
- H.B. 578, which requires nonpublic providers of telephone services to notify consumers of charges by other providers. It also limits the regulation of telecom providers and adds two members to the Information Technology Management Advisory Board.
- H.B. 702, which establishes a task force to study privacy issues.
- S.B. 121, which expands the membership of the state's advisory committee on international trade to include representatives from the New Hampshire High Technology Council, the Software Association of New Hampshire and several others.
- S.B. 139, which authorizes the use of e-signatures through the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.
California Officials Congratulate Pelosi
California Gov. Gray Davis and Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Wednesday congratulated California Rep. Nancy Pelosi on her election to the position of Democratic whip in the House, the highest post ever held by a woman in Congress.
Pelosi prevailed over Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland in a 118-95 vote and will officially assume the position on Jan. 15, 2002.
"She will bring integrity and vigor to the role," Lockyer said. "It's particularly significant that she is an expert in matters relating to the Silicon Valley -- the new commerce so essential to our nation's future."
States May Pursue Microsoft
Several states involved in the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft may pursue the case on their own if they decide the Justice Department is not being tough enough, The Washington Post reported last weekend.
The states are discussing hiring a trial specialist to argue their positions in further court proceedings, sources said, and are drafting a list of expert witnesses.
Private strategy sessions were held in Minnesota last week when the National Association of Attorneys General's antitrust committee met. Attorneys general Hardy Myers of Oregon, Eliot Spitzer of New York and Joseph Curran of Maryland lead that panel.
Bush Leads Florida Trade Missions
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will lead state business leaders on a trip to Spain -- a country that Florida says is the fastest-growing economy in the industrialized world and the fastest-growing information technology market worldwide.
The Team Florida Spain mission, scheduled for Nov. 4-10, aims to boost trading opportunities for companies that sell telecommunications services, water resources, electric power, computers, medical equipment and other products. "The demand for American products in Spain -- especially high-tech products -- is very strong and growing rapidly," Bush said in a statement. "Increasing Florida's share of that market is a very real, actionable opportunity for our state."
The trip will be coordinated by Enterprise Florida, the state's chief economic development organization, which is Bush heads. Florida exported about $288 million to Spain in 2000, compared with total national exports to Spain of $7 billion.
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