National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 12 * June 21, 1999

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A win for counties in passage of Y2K bill

By Eric Ciliberti
legislative assistant

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With nearly six months until the start of the millennium, the Senate passed S. 96, sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), on a bipartisan of vote 62–37, June 15.

The bill contains a key element for counties; municipalities and local government entities would be exempt from any punitive damages that may arise out of a potential flurry of Y2K litigation. NACo views passage of this bill as a crucial win for counties in the Y2K debate. The exemption will help maintain the fiscal integrity of county governments across the country.

In addition, personal liability caps for officers and directors of corporations would be lifted.

Twelve Democrats voted in support of the bill, which brings the Senate closer to attaining a veto-proof majority vote. In order to attract the support of some of the Senate Democrats, compromise language was added to the bill that addressed some of their key concerns regarding punitive damages.

Among the compromises included in the bill were limits on punitive damages for small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to $250,000 or three times the amount of compensatory damages.

With the vote just five votes short of a veto-proof majority, the Clinton Administration has threatened to veto the legislation in its current form. However, McCain and other supporters of the bill are optimistic about winning the support of the White House during upcoming conference negotiations with the House companion bill, H.R. 775. A bill that comes out of these conference negotiations is expected before the Independence Day recess.

Y2K Assistance Available Y2K self help tool kit Small local governments, businesses and community organizations have a new ally in their fight against the Year 2000 problem. Technical assistance for Y2K assessment and remediation of computers and embedded systems is available from the government-sponsored Y2K Help Center for Small Business. The center provides a self help-tool kit, individual assistance in the areas of Y2K remediation, as well as sources of compliance information. The center can provide technical assistance on the proper installation and use of the kit. The center also provides product compliance information, including equipment manufacturers’ and vendors’ Web sites, telephone numbers and databases that contain product Y2K compliance information. How to reach the center The Y2K Help Center for Small Business can be reached by calling 800/Y2K-7557 or by e-mail at: y2khelp@nist.gov. Please include your name, company name and address (including county), phone number and a detailed inquiry. An analyst will follow-up within one business day. In addition to the self-help materials, a series of workshops will describe the fundamentals of Y2K compliance for public and private organizations and will focus on four major areas of Y2K competency: 1) assessment and project planning 2) remediation of desktop hardware and software 3) remediation of embedded processors 4) contingency planning. For details on upcoming workshop schedules, contact the Y2K Help Center, the U.S. Small Business Administration (800/827-5722) or your state’s NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (800/637-4634). Y2K training partnership The development and deployment of the Self-Help Kit and the training teams result from an interagency agreement among USDA’s Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES), the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at USDA, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the Department of Commerce, Iowa State University and the Iowa Manufacturing Technology Center.