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Report Finds States Lack In Flu Preparedness
by Michael Martinez
Most states are remiss in developing plans to boost their information technology infrastructures to be able to efficiently address a potential outbreak of avian flu, according to a report released Wednesday.
A survey of state and local technology officials conducted by Citrix Systems found that 40 percent have plans in place to address an avian flu pandemic. Only 24 percent were aware if their agencies already have such strategies.
The report also found that most state technology officials consider budget constraints to be their main obstacle in preparing a robust plan to prepare for a flu pandemic.
"The political leadership at some point in time is going to have to say we'll do our part and put the funding in part to make these things happen," said Citrix state and local government director Bert Wakeley, in a phone interview.
According to Wakeley, it is crucial that state and local governments immediately develop technology infrastructures enabling them to share information with their residents. He said many of the elements of such a plan overlap with strategies necessary for combating terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
The incorporation of technologies enabling citizens to access critical information remotely is imperative, Wakeley said. He added that communities with technological infrastructures allowing citizens to telecommute will be in much better shape in which workers must physically be in the office every day.
"If they start now, they can be prepared not just for a pandemic but for any other disaster that comes along," he said.
Wakeley said that several states, including California, Florida, Michigan and Oregon, are well ahead of the curve. He noted that the stakes are particularly high in Michigan because it lies directly in the migration path of many birds flying from Canada to the United States.
Florida Gov. Signs Economic Boost Bills
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday signed into law a package of bills he said will enhance the state's economic competitiveness.
The measures included H.B. 415, a bill to provide tax incentives to companies for investing in high-tech research and development projects. H.B. 69 establishes tax exemptions for companies that purchase equipment to boost their R&D profiles.
"During times of abundance, it is smart to reinvest some of these one-time revenues back into our economy to attract capital investment and create high wage jobs that, in turn, generate recurring revenue for state and local government," Bush said in a statement.
The legislative package also reaches out to the state's space industry. H.B. 1489 provides $39 million to upgrade facilities at the John F. Kennedy Space Center. It also calls for the creation of a new center for research in science and mathematics to boost student achievement throughout the state.
Another education-related measure, H.B. 1237, directs $95 million to match grants provided to universities and to improve technological capacities at public academic facilities.
"This comprehensive legislative package combines a variety of tools, which include financial incentives, to spur investment and state funding to build our innovation infrastructure and to diversify and strengthen our economy," Bush said.
Governors Wary Of Telecom Legislation
A pair of governors Wednesday expressed to federal lawmakers concern over a telecommunications proposal to streamline video franchising rules throughout the country.
In a letter to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, the sponsor of the measure, Arizona's Janet Napolitano and Arkansas' Mike Huckabee said the bill should include language enabling states to "opt out" of a national franchising framework for video services.
The governors wrote the letter on behalf of the National Governors Association.
The Capitol Hill proposal, as currently drafted, would eviscerate state level legislative efforts with a "federal framework that does not reflect the priorities and prerogatives of states," they said.
Huckabee and Napolitano further urged federal lawmakers to revisit language in H.R. 5252 that they claim preempts the ability of state and local governments to manage the deployment of high-speed services in their jurisdictions.
"This provision violates the basic principles of federalism by interfering with state constitutions and our relationships with our instrumentalities established therein," they said.
Rocky Start For Rocky Mountain State
The non-partisan group Voter Action is planning to file a lawsuit in Colorado to block the state's purchase of electronic voting equipment it claims is dangerously unreliable.
The group announced its intention to file suit along with the law firm Wheeler Trigg Kennedy in a district court in Denver to "to protect the integrity and purity of elections as required by the Colorado Constitution." Voter Action is behind similar legal challenges in Arizona, California, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania. The suit could be filed as early as Thursday.
"In addition to being insecure and easily compromised by hacking, the contested (touch-screen machines) have a history of operational problems that have disrupted elections across the country, do not provide any way to recount ballots in a contested election, and do not meet the needs of the majority of disabled voters for whom they are being purchased," the release said.
Game Over In Louisiana?
Louisiana lawmakers are one step closer to passing a controversial measure to prohibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors.
A state Senate panel on Tuesday approved a bill, H.B. 1381, to ban the sale of such games to children under the age of 18. The proposal is now headed to full Senate for further debate. H.B. 1381 already has cleared the House.
But a competing measure in the Senate that cleared its Judiciary Committee in May is more favorable to the industry. The Senate proposal, S.B. 340, was amended by the panel to only target violent video games.
Family groups immediately decried the Senate action last month on the measure.
"This is like the fox writing the rules for what goes on in the hen house," Kathy Benfield of the American Family Association of New Orleans told the Times-Picayune.
Pa. Senate Aides Arrested For Erasing E-Mails
The FBI on Wednesday arrested two aides to Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Fumo for allegedly hiding e-mail evidence from investigators.
Leonard Luchko and Mark Eister, who both served as computer technicians in Fumo's office, have been accused of destroying e-mails and other electronic evidence sought by the FBI in its probe into whether Fumo extorted donations from a non-profit organization in his district.
Luchko and Eister have been charged with obstruction of justice. According to a 65-page affidavit, the two deleted the e-mails deliberately to interfere with the investigation.
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