Nevada designating $6 mil. for answer to Year 2000 bug

Brian Seals

Monday, Sept. 28, 1998 | 10:59 a.m.

Nevada state government has allotted nearly $6 million to fixing the so-called Year 2000 computer bug.

Gov. Bob Miller wants to make sure the state's computers are ready for the problem upon the day of reckoning on Jan. 1, 2000.

Miller signed an executive order Friday directing state agencies to make preparing solutions a top priority and establishes a committee to develop contingency plans should there be computer failures.

The Year 2000 computer problem, commonly referred to as Y2K, arises from computers that were not designed to account for the next century. Machines that aren't altered will read 2000 as 1900. Some people see it as a minor glitch while others predict apocalyptic-like horrors.

Miller's order mandates monthly reports from state agencies whose computers aren't ready and to defer commencing new computer projects until until its systems are compliant. Further, it orders the state Department of Information and Technology to work with county and municipal governments to coordinate Y2K preparation efforts.

That's not to say the state hasn't already been at work on the problem. Miller said the state's effort to have its computers ready is about 40 percent complete. The Legislature has already passed a law limiting companies' liability for problems stemming from the Y2K bug. and Nevada's Internet site has an area devoted to information on the issue.

Last week, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Nevadans receiving unemployment checks may experience delays as the department switches to a Y2K compliant computer system.

"It's something that we've been working very diligently on in the state of Nevada," Miller said.

Marlene Lockard, the director of information services, said the process began in 1996 when the state agreed to a test agreement with a San Jose-based company, MatriDigm, that specializes in fixing the millennium bug.

"They were looking for an entity to test their solution," Lockard said. "We essentially served as their guinea pig."

After some testing, the state entered into a contract with the company. Computer codes are saved on a compact disc and sent to the company, which debugs them and sends them back.

She hopes to have all the codes revamped by December and spend 1999 testing the systems, she said. The state has 11 people devoted solely to working on Y2K solutions, in addition to programmers in various state agencies.

Yet while getting the state ready was the main goal, Miller also wants the roughly 42,000 businesses in the state to be ready as well. His order also mandated that regulatory authorities ensure businesses under their jurisdiction demonstrate they are Y2K compliant.

"We want to reach out to the business world and say, 'we're in this problem together,"' Miller said.

Not that most businesses where computers are vital need more motivation. The Securities Exchange Commission has ordered publicly traded companies to include their Y2K efforts in their annual reports. And industries like banking already face mandates from other federal agencies.

"With or without prodding, if a bank isn't Y2K compliant, they're going to be in a world of hurt," said Ted Wehking of the Nevada Bankers Association.

He said the Federal Reserve ordered banks to detail their plans to become compliant by June 30. The next phase for banks is educating their customers and borrowers about becoming compliant.

"Every bank in the United States was assessed for compliance," Wehking said.

Likewise, most hospitals and doctors' offices are studying how to beat the Y2K bug, said Lawrence Matheis of the Nevada Medical Association.

He said the problem could affect everything from billing records to machinery used to treat patients. He expects the major problems to stem from Medicare and Medicaid billing. The state wants systems such as those to be compliant because both entities share Medicaid information.

"Most people think they'll have upgrades within the next year," he said. "In health care, we have an extra responsibility to make sure nothing goes down."

Matheis said many offices will begin storing information on paper in case of computer glitches.

Estimates of what the cost will be to get computers ready for the next century abound. Lockard cited a study by a consulting firm that estimated worldwide costs at $600 billion.

The federal government is also grappling with the problem. The Office of Management and Budget estimates the cost at $5.4 billion to get federal agencies ready, but a House panel studying the issue places the figure closer to $6.3 billion.