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States Fret About Overseas Job Losses
by Chloe Albanesius
State legislatures last month introduced numerous bills aimed at curbing the contracting of services to foreign workers, though efforts in Virginia already have failed.
More than 20 states have introduced legislation regarding such "offshore outsourcing," compared with about 10 bills overall last year. Several of this year's measures would ban businesses that are awarded government contracts from using foreign workers, while others would block government funds for firms that fail to employ enough Americans.
Three Virginia House bills effectively were killed Tuesday, while a related Senate bill was tabled last week. Officially, members voted to carry the measures into the 2005 session, but that is generally regarded as a formality and the likelihood that the bills ever will reappear is slim, said Jim LeBlanc, executive committee member for the Northern Virginia Technology Council and a senior associate for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
One of the Virginia House measures, H.B. 243, would require public contracts to favor goods produced in the United States, while another, H.B. 315, calls for a 3 percent preference to Virginia-based products when awarding contracts worth more than $500,000. The final House measure, H.B. 1010, would require public contracts to stipulate that only citizens or people with valid visas could work on projects.
The Senate measure, S.B. 151, also calls for contracts that favor U.S. goods.
Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), said the legislative trend is disturbing. "It's foolhardy for the United States ... to promote a global trade war by starting to adopt protectionist legislation," he said.
Such legislation will prompt other countries "to go into full battle cry" in retaliation, crushing U.S. businesses that rely on the international marketplace, Miller said. "The percentage of IT work going offshore has been hyped beyond all reality," he contends. "Most of these projections are not about IT jobs [but] back-office jobs. Yes, there are some IT jobs going offshore ... but [the United States] still has a huge advantage" in the marketplace.
Other states considering limits on outsourcing include: California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
E-Government From Delaware To Alabama
Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner on Wednesday unveiled a series of new e-government initiatives for the state's Division of Corporations.
The new services will allow residents to go online and reserve corporate names, get basic corporate information, confirm the status of Delaware corporations and get the filing history or other information on Delaware corporations. The move is part of Minner's Delaware@YourService program and was prompted by the numerous telephone calls the department received with requests for information on Delaware businesses.
In Alabama, meanwhile, the Public Safety Department awarded a contract to modernize its driver's licensing system to Digimarc. The company is charged with developing new software applications, systems integration, picture hardware, card production and design.
The state will now use Digimarc's machine-readable and cross-jurisdictional "watermarking" security. "The proposed system will benefit the residents of our state through better customer service, more secure identity documents and reduced fraud," Col. Mike Coppage, the director of Public Safety, said in a release.
The system is scheduled for deployment in early 2005.
Ohio Anti-Spam Bill Garners Praise
An anti-spam bill introduced in the Ohio House is a positive step in the fight against spam, Jim Prendergast, executive director of Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL), said in a statement, though he added that legislation alone will not solve the problem.
"The increased criminal penalties in this bill will send a message to spammers that they will pay a high price for the harm they cause," he said of the measure, H.B. 383. "[But] the solution to fighting spam requires a united front of consumers, technology and legislation to combat the problem." He also urged consumers to "note the innovative advances in technology and the actions by industry leaders to combat this problem."
In Washington state, meanwhile, Attorney General Christine Gregoire on Friday took her "Safety Net" tour to middle schools in Fife and Auburn as part of her 21-stop statewide tour to promote Internet awareness and safety.
Pa. Budget Calls For R&D Credits And More
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell released a budget plan that includes money for a number of tech-related initiatives, including investment funds, tax credits for research and development, and increased high-speed Internet deployment.
The budget has two R&D tax credits: $10 million for companies that increase R&D activities and a provision that allows those businesses to sell their unused credits to other Pennsylvania businesses; and $25 million for startup firms that locate themselves in any of the 11 areas the state has designated as innovation zones.
Rendell's proposed plan also calls for broadband deployment, an issue that the Pittsburgh Technology Council lobbied heavily. Access to high-speed Internet services is "critical" in order to educate students on the use of information technology, the council said in a statement.
Rendell also designated up to $15.2 million for the state's Industrial Resource Centers in order to encourage innovation within Pennsylvania's manufacturing sector.
Minnesota Launches Site On Drugs From Canada
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Friday unveiled a Web site that will provide residents with information on cheaper prescription drug options, including Canadian purchases.
"We pay more for prescription medication in this country than anywhere else in the world," Pawlenty said during a press conference. "It hurts seniors. It hurts families. It hurts taxpayers. And it's a burden on our economy that impacts job growth. It's time to try something different to get Minnesotans a better deal on their prescription medications."
Information provided on the site will focus primarily on medicines used to stabilize an illness or symptoms. Users will be able to compare U.S. and Canadian prices.
Pawlenty and officials from the state's Human Services Department and Pharmacy Board in December visited Canada and determined, according to Canadian safety standards, that Total Care Pharmacy and Granville Pharmacy are reputable and safe operations for Minnesota consumers. Forms found on the Web site can be printed and faxed to the pharmacy of choice, but citizens cannot make direct drug purchases from MinnesotaRxConnect.com.
The Rest Of the Stories
The online retailer Amazon.com will comply with updates to Kansas' sales-tax law beginning April 1, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Amazon is set to generate between $1 million and $1.2 million annually in sales tax via an automated distribution center it operates in Kansas.
In other news, AP reports that Nebraska state senators approved a measure to let legislators surf the Internet from the floor of the legislative chamber, but a later Executive Board vote amended the rule to prohibit the use of sounds or the viewing of videos.
The Tampa Tribune reports that the University of South Florida broke ground last week on a $20 million, two-building research facility and business development center.
The Bennington Banner in Vermont reports that the state Senate Appropriations Committee last week approved $370,000 more to launch the Bennington Microtechnology Center.
And Federal Computer Week reports that Kim Bahrami, Florida's chief information officer, announced her resignation on Wednesday. She will leave the job Feb. 27.
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