Reid sees problems in state Y2K law

Jace Radke

Wednesday, March 31, 1999 | 10:38 a.m.

With all the possible technological problems associated with Y2K, Sen. Harry Reid is hoping that the Nevada Legislature has not created an added problem with a 1997 law aimed at lawsuits that could arise from computer failures on Jan. 1, 2000.

Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, expressed concern about the broadness of the law, passed as Senate Bill 180, which provides immunity to state and local governments from civil action based on Y2K computer failures.

To save precious memory in the early days of computers, programmers assumed all years would start with 19 and relied on only the last two digits to denote years. Come 2000, computers programmed this way are likely to think it is 1900, which could cause failures. Billions of dollars have been spent to make computers Y2K compliant.

"I'm not trying to interfere with the state Legislature, but I hope they're aware of what they've done," Reid said at a meeting of the Senate Special Committee on Y2K in Las Vegas Tuesday. "The way I read this bill, it seems like no one can sue anybody in the event of a Y2K-related problem."

Reid pointed to language in the bill that allows immunity for breach of contract by the state of Nevada or its contractors if a problem is caused by a Y2K computer problem.

The bill was designed to protect taxpayers and the state from limited liability suits, state public information officer Marlene Lockard said. Lockard added that other states have followed Nevada's lead with similar legislation.

Reid still sees the potential for problems.

"If there is a private hospital on one side of the street and a public hospital on the other, one can be sued for a malfunction while the other can't, the way I read this bill," Reid said. "That seems wrong."

There will soon be a national bill to deal with limited liability against the federal government, but it won't be as broad as the Nevada legislation, Bennett said.

"As chair of the Senate Committee on Y2K, I've never seen a limited liability bill as broad as this one," Bennett said. "It's goes much further than would ever be dared on the federal level."

Bennett said that limited liability bills will not stop suits for actual damages but will discourage class-action suits and punitive damage awards.

Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, who is considered Nevada's legislative expert on computers, did not want to comment on Reid's statements but said the bill is designed to protect a select group.

"The law is there to protect against an unintentional problem that may arise and protect the state from liability," O'Donnell said.

Lockard said she will take Reid's concerns about the law to the attorney general.