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Contractors To Face Background Checks
by Maureen Sirhal
Telecommunications companies will be able to perform background checks on their contractors under a law that Gov. Gray Davis signed Wednesday.
About 20 percent of telecom workers in the state are contractors, and they have the same level of access to critical equipment and infrastructure as employees. The measure Davis signed, A.B. 1934, would be subject to the same rigorous checks as state employees.
"After the terrorist attacks last September we must all take a closer look at our infrastructure and enact measures to protect it," Davis said at the signing ceremony. "This bill will enhance California's existing state of preparedness. Telecommunications companies can screen out potentially dangerous employees who have critical access to the system."
In other news this week, Davis signed a measure, A.B. 2456, that seeks to prevent prisoners who are convicted of identity theft or fraud from having access to personal consumer information while participating in work or community-service programs.
Indiana Assembly Salvages R&D Money
Thanks to a last-minute compromise, Indiana's Assembly voted to retain a technology research and development program and doubled tax credits for other research initiatives.
The chamber passed a measure that would reduce, rather than eliminate, the budget for the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund this year. The fund supports large-scale research projects at universities and private industry. Funding would be cut 40 percent, and the Assembly voted to force the program to return $50 million in unused funds to help balance the state's budget.
Lawmakers also voted to double the state's R&D tax credit to 10 percent, repealed an unpopular apportionment formula in the credit, and added a venture-capital investment tax credit.
The State Of Privacy In The States
The Internet-based privacy think tank Privacilla.org released a study Tuesday revealing that many states already have laws to provide privacy protection for consumers.
The Privacy Torts: How U.S. State Law Quietly Leads the Way in Privacy Protection attempts to demonstrate how existing tort laws ensure baseline privacy protections and to show that new regulations to address online privacy may not be necessary. The report cites how tort laws can be applied and prove more effective than potential regulations, which champion concepts like "notice and choice" for ensuring privacy protection for in online transactions.
"The state privacy torts provide explicit legal protection for privacy in the United States, and at the same time, they allow beneficial uses of information to go forward," the report states. "This protects people while fostering innovation. Most proposals to protect privacy by administrative regulation would cut off or seriously curtail many beneficial uses of information."
Courts can enforce the measure through civil litigation, said Jim Harper, an adjunct fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation who runs Privacilla, but for too long, "lawmakers have been unaware of the existence and clear merits of state privacy law."
Budget Blues
The majority of states face massive budget deficits of more than $50 billion, according to a new research report from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
By the end of fiscal 2002, 46 states reported that deficits totaled nearly $56 billion, and of those, 12 reported that budget shortfalls exceed general funds by more than 10 percent. While many states must pass balanced budgets, 37 states saw those balances decline in fiscal 2002.
Facing dramatic deficits, 29 states instituted across-the-board spending cuts, while another 20 states relied on other state funds to cover costs. Nineteen states tapped "rainy day" funds, and another 12 relied on settlements won from tobacco litigation. Sixteen states raised some taxes.
In other news, the technology trade group AeA convened its annual state policy meeting in Denver, coinciding with the annual NCSL conference where the budget report was released.
Key speakers at the AeA event included: California state Sen. Debra Bowen, co-chair of NCSL's information technology panel; Colorado House Majority Leader Lola Spradley and Assistant Majority Leader Keith King; Robyn Host of Microsoft; Jeanette Morgan of National Semiconductor; and Paul Russinoff of America Online.
The group led discussions on the status of programs for recycling electronic waste, state technology procurement and the 2002 elections.
A Computer For Every Lap
A new Michigan law will supply elementary and secondary school students with access to laptop computers to provide wireless Internet connectivity.
With a $3.5 million budget allocation and expected federal funding totaling more than $6 million, the program will outfit students in the state's public schools with laptop computers. The program is similar to one in Maine and in local areas like Henrico County, Va. Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson helped launch the Learning without Limits initiative after visiting schools around the country that have successfully integrated computer technology into the classroom.
Under the new program, an advisory committee of state teachers, administrators, university officials, parents and technology experts will help implement the system. The Michigan Virtual University will aid in efforts to provide the high-speed Internet infrastructure.
New Virginia Biotech Initiative
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has appointed 32 people to serve on a new advisory board for the Virginia Biotechnology Initiative, a panel seeking to develop a strategy for luring biotechnology investments into the state.
Brandon Price, chairman of the Virginia Biotechnology Association, and Michael Schewel, Virginia's Commerce and Trade secretary, will chair the panel. The Technology secretary will serve as vice chairman, and the secretaries of the Natural Resources, Education, and Health and Human Resources departments also will participate.
The governor has instructed the board to produce by Nov. 15 specific recommendations and actions for making Virginia a leader in the biotechnology industry.
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