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Pa. Governor Urges Telecom Overhaul
by Chloe Albanesius
The telecommunications industry in Pennsylvania must be updated to reflect 21st-century needs, Gov. Edward Rendell said during his budget address last week.
"It is clear to me that simply allowing [current] provisions to live on without changing our telecommunication system would be a lost opportunity," the Democratic governor said. "I am calling on the General Assembly to enact legislation that ensures that every Pennsylvanian has access, at home, to affordable, quality basic telephone service."
Rendell also pushed for an accelerated deployment of high-speed Internet access. "Eight of the 10 fastest-growing occupations are in professions that depend on high-speed communications," he said. Pennsylvania must surpass its current goal of statewide broadband access by 2015 by "providing incentives to local telephone companies and financial assistance to municipalities and entrepreneurs," he said.
Schools will have broadband service within the next 18 months, Rendell pledged. "One of every six school districts has Internet service only through telephone modems that operate at a fraction of the speed" of the networks used at the state Capitol, he said. "We can no longer tolerate this."
Meanwhile, the governor called for applying "the tools of technology" to the state's traditional economic backbone -- the manufacturing sector. The state is working to convert a former Bethlehem Steel plant into the Bethlehem Commerce Center, a structure that "will house technology companies, service companies and manufacturers, creating 6,000 jobs with an annual payroll of $210 million," he said.
In other news, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday called for investments in research and development, and startup companies. "We will build the best laboratories and bring and grow the best scientists and researchers in Michigan," the Democratic governor said in her State of the State address.
She also pledged to create sources of startup capital and promised to give universities and R&D companies "the ability to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funds."
Kentucky Eyes Internet Pharmacy Registrations
Two Kentucky lawmakers this week introduced companion bills intended to crack down on rogue Internet pharmacies.
The bills, S.B. 162 and H.B. 343, would require Internet pharmacies looking to do business with state residents to obtain permits from the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy. Certified pharmacies would have to uphold strict security and monitoring guidelines to remain in good standing with the state.
The measures were introduced by state Rep. John Weaver and state Sen. R.J. Palmer, both Democrats, but the legislation is the brainchild of Attorney General Greg Stumbo, also a Democrat. He incorporated into the legislation "best practices" from other states with similar programs, as well as recommendations from his task force on Internet pharmacy regulation.
"Public health and safety are threatened by online drug pushers," Stumbo said in a statement. "Anyone, including children, can obtain highly addictive controlled substances online. The practice must be regulated in Kentucky."
In Oklahoma, Gov. Brad Henry on Monday pledged during his State of the State address to support prescription-drug imports. "We will help Oklahomans purchase cheaper medications by facilitating the [importation] of prescription drugs from other industrialized nations," he said. "And we'll do it through collaboration with Oklahoma pharmacies and supplying help through an Internet Web site."
In other news, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Monday filed a consumer-fraud lawsuit against 48 pharmaceutical companies, accusing them of conspiring to inflate drug sales. Illinois spearheaded the multi-state I-SaveRx program, which connects people to pharmacies in Canada and Europe.
And importation efforts by the Minnesota Senior Federation have far surpassed those of the states, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis reports. The organization announced last week that it had added two mail-order businesses to its database of providers. The federation, which did $1.7 million in business last year, connects buyers to Canadian pharmacies through its Web site.
'Spyware' Is Back On Utah's Agenda
A Utah state representative has proposed new legislation against secretly installed computer "spyware" that prompted a legal challenge from WhenU.com, a company that sells pop-up advertising to appear automatically on certain computers.
Utah policymakers last year cleared a bill by House Majority Whip Stephen Urquhart, a Republican. The measure restricted the ability of companies to place software on computers without the owners' consent. In June, however, a Utah judge granted WhenU's request to block implementation until the company's case challenging the law's constitutionality is resolved.
Urquhart's updated measure would require companies to ask permission of computer users before installing software on their machines and would allow the state attorney general to pursue cases against spyware companies on behalf of consumers. A House committee approved the bill, H.B. 104, on Monday.
Connecticut Governor Proposes Laptop Program
Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell has issued a budget proposal that includes $15.5 million to provide every ninth- and 10th-grade English classroom with laptop computers.
The initiative would place about 19,000 computers in more than 600 classrooms throughout the state. The plan is to equip about 300 classrooms for the 2005-2006 school year and to wire the remaining facilities by the start of 2006.
"Schools need to focus more and more on workforce preparedness, and ... our students need to be continuously honing and updating their computer skills," Rell said during her budget announcement.
Bush Proposes Funds For District Projects
The District of Columbia would receive a second round $7.2 million in federal funds for a bioterrorism and forensics laboratory under the fiscal 2006 budget President Bush proposed Monday. The city would have to provide another $1.5 million, and the combined sum would enable the district to "move forward with early construction phases," according to the budget.
The federal allocation would be somewhat less than in fiscal 2005, when the lab received $8 million and the city was required to provide $2.3 million more. The project is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 30, 2007.
The city's Criminal Justice Coordination Council also would receive $1.3 million to coordinate federal and local criminal-justice resources, and the district's Child and Family Services Agency would be allotted $500,000 for technology upgrades.
Los Angeles Considers 'Open Source' Software
Three Los Angeles City Council members last week introduced a motion to switch the city's computer networks to an "open source" platform, which would allow users to see and alter the underlying code.
Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greul and Jack Weiss asked the city's Information Technology Agency to report on the feasibility of such an undertaking. "By engaging this online community, we can make our own communities safer," Garcetti said in a statement. "Free open-source software can be as capable, and more secure, than products that cost the city millions."
Los Angeles currently uses open-source applications to run network servers but spent $5.8 million on proprietary software licenses in fiscal 2003 and fiscal 2004.
In other news, Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday introduced several technologies for emergency responders that it has been field testing with the Sacramento Police Department for several years. Police cruisers were equipped with interactive video screens, and officers were given electronic notebooks that reduce the need for additional paperwork, said Jim Ganthier, HP's worldwide director for defense, intelligence and security solutions.
HP eventually hopes to extend the program to all Sacramento police cruisers, as well as "do even higher levels of data sharing and collaboration," he said.
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