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Governor Pataki and the state's y2k director say that they need $250 million to fix y2k. The legislature has cut funding to $40 million.
New York State rolls into fiscal 2000 on April 1, 1999.
This is from the BOSTON GLOBE (April 29).
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Pataki had earmarked $70 million in funds and another $20 million in borrowing to convert state computers to cope with dates after Dec. 31, 1999 - the Year 2000 problem. After legislative cuts, just $40 million exists in the 1998-99 state budget for the problem.
Pataki has said the cuts will ``unnecessarily disrupt the effort to upgrade these computer systems by the turn of the century and will make an already difficult task nearly impossible.'' . . .
Gary Davis, Year 2000 Project manager, says it will cost $250 million to ensure that all 712 state computer systems are either fixed or replaced. And Davis says the time for the money is now. . . .
State Comptroller H. Carl McCall has said Pataki's figure wouldn't even come close to solving the problem, and that the shortfall would leave state technology workers scurrying to choose which programs are most important and finding the computer programmers to do the work.
The ``Year 2000 Project'' has identified 308 systems as being most essential for state government. The fate of the remaining systems may have to be left to chance, Davis said. . . .
In comparison, Georgia has appropriated $150 million for the conversion, and the state's chief information officer said $100 million more is needed. Washington has set aside $83 million; Nebraska $60 million. The federal government estimates it will need $4.7 billion.
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