Technology Issues Stir State Assembly
by January 22, 2001 12:00 am 41 views
When the House of Representatives’ committee on Advanced Communications and Technology convenes Jan. 22, it will discuss four of the hottest issues facing the 83rd General Assembly.
Gov. Mike Huckabee opened the legislative session by touting several technology initiatives, including establishing a $31 million fund to invest in high-tech endeavors for state government, creating a position for a state chief technology officer, adopting the uniform electronic transaction act and completing and implementing a geographical information system (GIS) that could serve as a statewide recruiting tool.
Another consideration, long clamored for in Northwest Arkansas’ technology community, proposes the establishment of more venture capital funding for high-tech firms and projects. The Senate and House are considering variations.
State Rep. Jan. Judy and state Sen. David Malone, both Democrats from Fayetteville, are on the technology committees in their respective divisions of the Legislature. Judy said her committee, which is chaired by Jim Magnus, R-Little Rock, expects to have a productive session.
“We’re excited about getting started on technology,” Judy said. “I was personally interested in a number of these issues, since the University of Arkansas is in my district and technology and research are major concerns of the university community.”
Bills for most the Governor’s initiatives had not been filed by Jan. 18. But one, sponsored by Mike Everett, D-Marked Tree, and several others, to adopt security measures for the electronic transaction act had reached the discussion stage.
Magnus said the legislature still has to identify money for Huckabee’s technology fund. But the plan is to reinvest a portion of the savings created by improved efficiency back into state technology initiatives.
Establishing and filling the proposed state CTO position, Magnus said, is the biggest issue. Legislators are determined to appropriate a competitive salary to attract a quality person.
Formalizing the organization of a GIS application would enable, for instance, the Arkansas Department of Economic Development to search prospective sites for companies that want to locate within a search distance to things like waterway transportation, major highways and certain populations of available workers.