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Job Creation Tops Governors' Agendas
by Chloe AlbanesiusJob creation is becoming a major issue for states in 2004, with several of the nation's governors addressing the topic in their annual State of the State addresses this week. And some of their focus is on creating jobs in the technology industry.
"We must cultivate the next generation of manufacturing to help replace the thousands of old-line manufacturing jobs that have disappeared over the past several years," Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, said on Tuesday, and that will be accomplished via "the development of high-tech centers throughout Vermont" and "an incubator facility for emerging technologies" at the University of Vermont.
"To help ensure the success of rural and urban employers alike, we must also build a robust technological infrastructure," Douglas said. "Working with private-sector partners, we will create a wireless network that covers all of our major transportation arteries and extend broadband Internet access to 90 percent of our homes and businesses by 2007."
That network could give Vermonters online access to cheap Canadian drugs, an avenue Douglas' administration is "actively pursuing" despite safety concerns and legal warnings issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
On Wednesday, New York Gov. George Pataki also pushed for a high-tech commercialization center in Binghamton "that will transfer ideas from our center to the marketplace." He also vowed to "work with the University at Albany to create a new College of Nanotechnology ... to provide our industry with the high-quality workforce it needs to grow in New York state."
In addition, Pataki announced the formation later this year of a high-tech council led by business and academic leaders. "I am pleased to announce that Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize winner, former director of the National Institutes of Health, and president and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has agreed to chair the council," Pataki said.
Those high-tech initiatives, as well the state's tax cuts, regulatory reforms and investments in job-creating programs, "have laid a solid foundation" for success, he said. "Let's work together and commit to this: By the end of this decade, we will have 1 million more private-sector jobs than we do now. It's an ambitious goal [but] well within our reach."
Security remains a prime concern for the New York region as well, Pataki said, advocating enhanced cyber-security efforts in Utica and Rome. On the national level, he announced that the Homeland Security Department has "designated New York's cyber-security office as the national information-sharing center." The state has its own information-sharing network, eJusticeNY, and Pataki promised that 90 percent of the state's police agencies would be linked to it by year's end.
Pataki also urged legislators to approve additions to the state's anti-terrorism law. His strengthened version would "empower our 750,000 state and local law enforcement officials with the same investigatory powers given to their federal counterparts."
In his first State of the State address, meanwhile, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday vowed to be the state's "job czar," blaming "high costs" for driving jobs out of the state. He vowed to "travel the nation" in order to attract companies to California and to cut spending in order to avoid bankruptcy.
Delay Sought In Overriding Laws On ID Theft
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer last week penned a letter to the Federal Reserve Board requesting a delay in the pre-emption of several state acts on identity theft as required under a new federal law.
The federal statute includes provisions designed to protect consumers from ID theft but also pre-empts tougher state laws on the issue. Some of the federal provisions do not take effect for six months to a year, while the state pre-emptions are immediate. That leaves citizens without protection for several months, Lockyer argued.
"With holiday sales and gift exchanges luring California shoppers into stores, the potential for identity theft is at its peak, and strong laws protecting consumers are critical," said Lockyer, who is also president of the National Association of Attorneys General.
Lockyer requested in the letter that the board link the effective dates of the pre-emptions to the implementation of the new federal protections against ID theft.
New Jersey Gets Aid To Create 'Smart Guns'
New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey on Tuesday announced that the New Jersey Institute of Technology will receive $1.14 million in federal appropriations to research and develop more secure handguns. The state already has allocated $2 million for the project.
McGreevey said the federal aid would help the institute "continue developing and testing a most-promising technology to allow manufacturing of childproof and accident-proof handguns."
Last year, he signed a bill calling for all handguns to be childproof. Since then, the institute has made progress in developing guns that recognizes biometric data so only owners can use them.
Telemarketers Irk North Dakota Residents
Telemarketing topped the list of complaints received by North Dakota's consumer-protection division in 2003, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem announced Friday. The department netted $2 million in fines for violations of telemarketing rules.
Consumers logged 81 complaints about pre-recorded messages and 65 complaints regarding "do not call" violations. Many of the pre-recorded complaints involved "credit counseling" services. The state currently has 22 open investigations about the calls and has settled three.
Other complaints fielded by the division last year were for topics like "Web cramming," when consumers are billed for Internet service they did not authorize, and cellular telephone issues such as roaming fees, rural service, termination penalties and general billing. Of the top 10 complaints, telecom-related grievances ranked second and computer issues ranked sixth.
Virginia Tightens Rules For Driver's Licenses
Legislation tightening Virginia driver-licensing laws took effect Jan. 1, a move prompted by the revelation that seven of the 19 hijackers involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks illegally obtained Virginia driver's licenses.
The new law ties the expiration dates of licenses issued to legal immigrants to the expiration dates of their valid immigration papers. It also prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining licenses or motor-vehicle identification cards. The change is a "careful, common-sense approach" in order to "provide no easy avenue for terrorists to harm our citizens," Attorney General Jerry Kilgore said.
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