Don't have time to cut/paste/format article ... but here's some excerpts:

Contra Costa Times - July 13, 1999

State legislative panel to hear measure that would, among other provisions, give governor power to declare a state of emergency.

One provision of Dutra's bill would give the governor the power to declare a state of emergency prior to any actual crisis in California. ...

Any Californian who volunteers to help emergency officials cope with problems created by the computer glitch would be covered by state workers compensation and liability insurance for the duration of their service ...

But the most important provisions of Dutra's bill are those relating to the state's Department of Information Technology.

Davis has already tapped the department to head California's Y2K readiness efforts. Dutra's legislation would expand that authority, giving the department the power to force other state agencies into compliance.

Under the provisions of Dutra's legislation, the department would have the authority to take over any agencies that are lagging in their Y2K work. It would have the power to reassign staff and redirect resources. The bill also allows the department to pool the state's 10,000 computer technicians and assign them to Y2K projects in any state agency.

In short, it gives the department's director, Elias Cortez, the power to do anything necessary to make sure that all state agencies are ready for 2000.

"We made it very clear in our bill that he does have that authority," Dutra said. "As we get closer to the end of the year, (Cortez) is going to start exercising that authority." ...

What opposition there has been to Dutra's bill has come from the pharmaceutical industry, which objected to language guaranteeing all Californians a 60-day supply of their prescription medications.

Both the president's Y2K council and the American Red Cross have recommended that people who depend on prescription medications keep an extra 60-day supply on hand in case computer failures disrupt manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceuticals. But the pharmaceutical companies say such measures are unnecessary.

Dutra has reached a compromise with the industry's representatives that will allow Californians to get extra medication but that eliminates the specific reference to 60 days.

"There is no opposition to the bill at this point," he said ... http://www.hotcoco.com/news/business/businessstories/jfm28594.htm

I haven't seen where President's Council and American Red Cross recommended extra 60-day supply of prescription meds. Does anyone have links which show what specifically they're recommending these days for meds?

I'm trying to convince my sister to start stockpiling now. She has thyroid problem. Husband has diabetes and heart condition. His medication, particularly, is VERY expensive.

Thanks

-- Cheryl (Transplant@Oregon.com), July 14, 1999

Answers

Whew! Thanks Cheryl.

Will try to locate a link to the bill.

Diane

Hotlink...

http://www.hotcoco.com/news/business/businessstories/ jfm28594.htm

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Published on July 13, 1999

Bill seeks to coordinate millennium planning

State legislative panel to hear measure that would, among other provisions, give governor power to declare a state of emergency

By Bryce G. Hoffman
TIMES STAFF WRITER

FREMONT -- A key vote is expected today in Sacramento on a bill that would allow California's millennium bug bashers to launch a coordinated campaign to fix the state's computers and give the governor the power to declare a state of emergency on Jan. 1.

Assembly Bill 724 is the latest piece of Y2K legislation from Assemblyman John Dutra, D-Fremont. Today's vote by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee is the bill's first test in the Senate.

Though still in his freshman year, Dutra has emerged as one of the leading advocates of Y2K readiness in the Legislature. As chairman of the Assembly's Information Technology Committee, this Silicon Valley representative has made the millennium bug his top priority. He has already gone to the mat over legislation to limit Y2K liability for California companies and public agencies. Dutra lost that battle; he is planning to win this one.

Dutra says AB 724, dubbed the "Year 2000 Problem Good Government Omnibus Act of 1999," will give the state the authority it needs to tackle the Y2K problem and prepare for all eventualities.

The bill covers many of the same points as an executive order signed by Gov. Gray Davis in February, but Dutra said his legislation expands on the governor's order and will provide legislative validation for his decree.

"It reinforces the governor's order," Dutra said. "We worked very closely with him on this bill."

One provision of Dutra's bill would give the governor the power to declare a state of emergency prior to any actual crisis in California.

Dutra called this a critical provision because it would allow Davis to take advantage of California's position relevant to the International Dateline. Since this state will be one of the last areas of the industrial world to enter the new century, the governor will have several hours to evaluate the effects of the Y2K problem on other countries and respond accordingly.

The bill would also appropriate $2 million for a public awareness campaign -- something Dutra said is long past due.

Public safety officials up and down the state are calling for an information campaign that would encourage Americans to prepare for Y2K without panicking about it, Dutra said. He called the $2 million figure insufficient, but said he wants to get the bill passed. Anything higher would have drawn fire from fiscal conservatives, he said.

Dutra's legislation would extend certain protections to Californians who lend a hand in the event of a Y2K-related crisis.

Any Californian who volunteers to help emergency officials cope with problems created by the computer glitch would be covered by state workers compensation and liability insurance for the duration of their service.

Those who pitch in deserve such protection, Dutra said. He also hopes the gesture will promote volunteerism.

But the most important provisions of Dutra's bill are those relating to the state's Department of Information Technology.

Davis has already tapped the department to head California's Y2K readiness efforts. Dutra's legislation would expand that authority, giving the department the power to force other state agencies into compliance.

Under the provisions of Dutra's legislation, the department would have the authority to take over any agencies that are lagging in their Y2K work. It would have the power to reassign staff and redirect resources. The bill also allows the department to pool the state's 10,000 computer technicians and assign them to Y2K projects in any state agency.

In short, it gives the department's director, Elias Cortez, the power to do anything necessary to make sure that all state agencies are ready for 2000.

"We made it very clear in our bill that he does have that authority," Dutra said. "As we get closer to the end of the year, (Cortez) is going to start exercising that authority."

What opposition there has been to Dutra's bill has come from the pharmaceutical industry, which objected to language guaranteeing all Californians a 60-day supply of their prescription medications.

Both the president's Y2K council and the American Red Cross have recommended that people who depend on prescription medications keep an extra 60-day supply on hand in case computer failures disrupt manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceuticals. But the pharmaceutical companies say such measures are unnecessary.

Dutra has reached a compromise with the industry's representatives that will allow Californians to get extra medication but that eliminates the specific reference to 60 days.

"There is no opposition to the bill at this point," he said.

Dutra's last Y2K bill was not so lucky.

His legislation to protect California companies and government agencies from frivolous Y2K lawsuits was killed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee last month.

While he is not ready to concede defeat on that front, Dutra acknowledged that any laws limiting Y2K liability will probably have to come from Washington.

Both the House and the Senate have approved such legislation, which the president has agreed to sign.

Dutra is also talking with Sen. Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City, about bipartisan legislation to prohibit last-minute price gouging.

He is concerned that some unscrupulous retailers will jack up prices in December in an effort to profit from panic buying. But some Republicans have already vowed to block any legislation that prohibits price gouging, arguing that it amounts to price fixing.

Bryce Hoffman covers technology and biotechnology. Reach him at 925- 977-8463 or bhoffman@cctimes.com.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 14, 1999.

"The bill also allows the department to pool the state's 10,000 computer technicians and assign them to Y2K projects in any state agency."

I wonder if this means *JUST* the computer technicians who are currently State employees... or if it also includes private geeks. In any case, it sounds like a draft. Are you ready geeks and geekettes?

Seems they might have some tiny little morale problems if they start ordering computer folks to move into new departments - perhaps far from home - and it seems that having a bunch of grumpy programers forced to code or else, on systems they are not familiar with, might not do their very best work.

Any thoughts from the computer technicians on the forum?

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), July 14, 1999.

Did GN predict this?

-- Lisa (lisa@work.now), July 14, 1999.

State of California web-site...

http://www.ca.gov/s/

California Bills
California Legislative Counsel
Browse a searchable index of all California bills passed through both houses of the Legislature; access statutes by subject and keyword search.

http:// www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html

Search Bill information using terms... Bill Number: 724 and Author: Dutra.

AB 724 - Assembly Member Dutra * State government: Year 2000

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/ postquery?bill_number=ab_724&sess=CUR&house=B

Lot of stuff to study.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 14, 1999.

Odd - the civil libertarians amonst us have not picked up on the terrible premis given here: pre-emptively allowing the government (any government) to declare an emergency - no matter what the reason - leads to arbitrary denial of rights.

For example, declare a emergency to prevent a self-declared problem, then confiscate weapons, remove people from their property, condemn property, etc. to "solve the problem", then take credit for the solution (votes next time) without releasing control.

Or exactly what happened in Germany, except Hitler had the courage to at least wait until after the fire.

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), July 14, 1999.

This is absolutely legislative mass hysteria in action. The only good that can possibly come from this proposal is that it will wake up a few more Don't Get Its from their slumber, read between the lines of what all this means, and allow them to take action for themselves and their families.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), July 14, 1999.

linda,

You read a long way into the news story. How do you get from reassigning State Worker Staff to "DRAFT". Maybe it is time to give it a rest. At its core, the bill has good intentions. The state must fix the problem and if some of the state workers are unable to make a decision to fix the state systems, then the decision will be made to force the staff to correct the problems. Hopefully, you pay your taxes and if you do, you expect those state programs to be ready. The government works for the people or have you forgot that. They have an obligation to have the systems fixed. That obligations may require every state worker to work on fixing the y2k problem. The funny thing is that if they had repaired the state government systems by the end of June 99 like they said they would, then there would not be any need for a bill of this type.

Also the declaration of state of emergency has happened before, you just have not noticed it. When ever some police officer pump 20-40 rounds into some kid holding a twinky, and the judge says they dont deserve jail time, then there is going to be trouble in LA. It has happened before. Remember the Rodney King problems, or the preparations after the OJ trial, the police need to be ready for croud controle in those sections of the state.

This is a good State bill designed to maintain state services for the people. If you do not live in California, maybe you should tell your representative that your state and federal services must be ready for y2k. IF there not ready, tell them to mobilize the state workerer staff and fix the problem. After all, your tax dollars pay them and if they can't repair the problem, you will vote them out of office and change the state workers.

-- Ned P Zimmer (ned@nednet.com), July 14, 1999.

The emergency decree was actually signed by Pres. von Hindenburg, but it's clear that Hitler as his Chancellor was calling the tune.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), July 14, 1999.

Drafting programmers is a no-brainer, like fighting for air while being hanged. Whether or not it solves the problem is beside the point.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), July 14, 1999.

I see this proposed legislation as a clear PANIC. It may be couched in other terms but that's what I see.

When people take extra-ordinary steps *before* what would be generally accepted as a dire situation they are engaging in what I can only describe as a panic.

To respond with extra-ordinary steps to an extra-ordinary situation is only reasonable. However, as much as most of us would like it to be otherwise, the general consensus out there is that there still is no big deal with the Y2K "problem".

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 14, 1999.

Just a cross-reference. This is also being discussed in the thread:

Hamasaki: Hate to say I told you so (a, a@a.a, 1999-07-14)

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), July 14, 1999.

If you do not live in California, maybe you should tell your representative that your state and federal services must be ready for y2k. IF there not ready, tell them to mobilize the state workerer staff and fix the problem. After all, your tax dollars pay them and if they can't repair the problem, you will vote them out of office and change the state workers.

ROTFLAMO!!!!!!

yup, biggest joke I've read today.

ned, you're a hoot!

-- ned's (twin@brother.jed), July 14, 1999.

Ned P Zimmer Good intentions!!!! Last I heard was that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions

Shakey is digging a deeper hole, with guys like you around, don't need any enemies,Good intentions,,,MY A...!

Shakey

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), July 14, 1999.

Folks, we KNEW this was going to start happening. We did not know when....

California, as it so often has been, is acting as a "trailblazer" for the rest of the country.

I'm not a programmer and I doubt anyone will be drafting headhunters. I'm just going to keep a low profile (hah, posting as often as I have here lately is *probably* not a real "low" profile).

I wonder if that "cooperation" section will apply to citizen's militia's and neighborhood self protection groups????

-- Jon Williamson (jwilliamson003@sprintmail.com), July 14, 1999.

No mention of this on CNN's web page, and they usually jump all over gun-control news.........

-- Lisa (lisa@work.now), July 14, 1999.

forgive: I meant to post it to the CA firearms thread....

-- lisa (what@doofus.here), July 14, 1999.

But Lisa, it's so very interesting how two such very Facist events happened in one day in the Golden State. I don't know it it's been said before, but if you're within the boundaries of California, you're fixin' to get Californicated by the left-wing Facists who seem to be preparing to confiscate your firearms, and then force you into labor for the good of the state. What other obliteration of the citizen's rights have they got in mind as part of their Y2K planning?

I know that the state emergency action plan is directed only at state workers, as we read the current press reports that is. But what other language is in there and what interpretations will be made as 01/01/00 gets closer and then passes?

More than that, I wonder if California will secede from a crumbling union and re-establish itself as a Republic? Or is that as a Socialist Republic? Oh say do I see a flag with a bear and a Hammer and Sickle?

When I was station in southern California, our running joke was to reply "Come on, Earthquake!" to such looney news from Sacramento. Maybe we had better say the same now, before such Facist ideals are put into legislation in other states.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), July 14, 1999.

Actually, Oregon as usual is leading the way. See thread hot-linked for details of Eugene martial law, which have been verified.

Where was detention center located on I-5 South of Eugene, Oregon?

And we've always believed programmers will be drafted. When TSHTF everybody will clamor for the fixes, ASAP!

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), July 14, 1999.

I've done a little research on the Eugene, OR. martial law issue. This whole thing is a result of the so-called anarchists mini-riot that happened a couple of weeks ago. Eugene is notorious around here for the over-reaction to things from both the city management and the local constabulary. I suspect, but can not prove, that this whole issue is a result of this. The folks in charge wanted a way to control things if it ever happened again so they drafted this document. It contains something for every potential situation that may or may never occur.

My significant other works in Eugene and has verified for me that the document is real and will be discussed in a future council meeting. Furthermore she indicated that this type of over-kill has been the modus operendi for this city. What is laughable to me is the fact that the very people who are instigating this type of "control" are the very people who railed against the "system" in the 60's and the 70's!! Funny how your view point changes when you have a mortgage, kids, a job, and all the other "evil" material possesions to protect. Talk about an about face. :) I wonder if they even realize that the people(just kids really) they are worried about are just a younger version of themselves minus 20 years or more. Guess success and money does change people despite what they may claim. :)

Freelancer....(will code for good Merlot!:)

-- Freelancer (mercenary2000@yahoo.com), July 14, 1999.

"Today's vote by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee is the bill's first test in the Senate."

Any update?

-- RUOK (RUOK@yesiam.com), July 15, 1999.

It passed in the committee 8 to 3.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), July 15, 1999.

If you could be an omnipotent "Govenor for a Day", what would you do at this point in time?

-- flora (***@__._), July 15, 1999.