 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Massachusetts Eyes Manufacturing Jobs
by Chloe Albanesius
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday unveiled for the state legislature a plan designed to prevent the flow of state jobs moving overseas.
"Manufacturing jobs have fled from Massachusetts for decades," Romney told the state's Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor. "But the new wave of outsourcing is particularly alarming because it involves the very jobs that replaced those jobs that were lost."
Romney pointed to the low cost of telecommunications service and Internet connections as a means for companies to get work done in a more cost-effective manner abroad. "We are seeing the loss of highly skilled manufacturing positions we believed were secure ... [as well as] clerical, financial, accounting, engineering [and] software" jobs, he said. "The promise that education is a sure road to job security is very much in question."
To that end, Romney outlined his unemployment insurance reforms, changes that he said would create at least 2,500 jobs. The plan would increase the number of weeks to receive unemployment from 15 to 26 and allow people who have worked for a minimum of 20 weeks to receive benefits.
Romney praised similar legislation passed last year as a "first good step" but urged further action as "the competition for job creation is growing more intense between states and nations."
In other news, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle will travel to Washington on April 27 to discuss the loss of manufacturing jobs with congressional leaders and Bush administration officials. Among other topics, the governors will stress workforce training and development.
Governors Continue Fight For Canadian Drugs
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Sunday urged senior citizens to get involved in the fight to allow Americans access to cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.
"You can't enjoy retirement ... because the medications that would make it possible are out of reach," he said at a meeting with 300 seniors in Bolingbrooke. "The FDA [Food and Drug Administration] tells us our plans ... are unsafe, unsound and ill considered," he said, but seniors with large medical bills are forced to choose between staying healthy and paying rent.
Blagojevich last week appeared in Chicago with Ray and Gaylee Andrews as the couple became the first plaintiffs in a federal class-action lawsuit against the Health and Human Services Department and FDA. A favorable ruling would allow states to import drugs from Canada.
Last week, the governor of Minnesota, another state that has been outspoken in its opposition to FDA policy, called on the agency to test the safety of a new Minnesota program that would allow senior citizens to purchase cheap drugs online. Gov. Tim Pawlenty's plan would require Minnesota to share the cost of importation with the federal government, publish data about the program, make sure Canada is following guidelines and close the program if it is deemed unsafe.
"We pledge to be a constructive partner," Pawlenty said in a letter to FDA Assistant Commissioner William Hubbard. "It's better than heated rhetoric and the potential for lawsuits."
North Carolina Law Targets ID Theft
The first phase of North Carolina's law against identity theft took effect Monday, requiring any new credit-card equipment to not print customer receipts with more than five numbers of a card. By July 1, all of the state's existing equipment must be converted to follow the same rules.
Businesses that fail to comply with the provisions could face fines of up to $500 per violation, though it will be no more than $500 per month or $2,000 per year. Penalties can be waived if equipment is updated within 30 days of a citation.
Also in North Carolina, Attorney General Roy Cooper announced that the state ordered a telecommunications company to issue refunds to customers for overcharges. Customers of Switched Access and Directory Service were charged for telephone calls they did not make, according to charges that appeared on days the victims were out of town.
The cyber-crime unit of the Texas attorney general's office, meanwhile, announced Friday that it apprehended two individuals who propositioned young girls for sex in Internet chat rooms. The "girls" were actually officers, and the two men were arrested when they arrived for a meeting.
Virginia Offers Online Health Licensing
The Virginia Health Professions Department now will offer online licensure and disciplinary notification to state healthcare professionals, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner announced Tuesday.
"This new service will make tracking license renewal and disciplinary information related to healthcare providers as easy as reading an e-mail," Warner said in a release. "With the use of commonly available technology, users are able to receive electronic notification of such changes via any apparatus that receives e-mail."
The subscription service will allow users to create profiles of licenses and information they wish to track and identify an e-mail address where they want the information to be sent.
"Currently, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack when employers are attempting to stay abreast of most recent information relating to licensees," Health Professions Director Robert Nebiker said. That information currently is available through individual searches via the Online License Lookup on the department's Web site.
Warner also announced that the state will expand its online tutorials for people studying to pass the Standards of Learning reading test required to receive a high-school diploma.
FCC Chairman Continues Broadband Tour
FCC Chairman Michael Powell will travel to North Carolina on Thursday and Friday to promote the development of high-speed Internet capabilities and telehealth technologies.
First, he will visit a health facility in Wilmington for a demonstration of telehealth facilities that allow residents to "see" doctors at a Chapel Hill medical center two hours away.
On Friday, Powell will speak to the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry about the importance of the conversion to digital technology, followed by a tour of a Raleigh energy company's broadband services.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
