SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

1999 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 741
Expressing the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia that state agencies and institutions avoid certain dates for the implementation of new programs or procedures as they prepare for the Year 2000.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 8, 1999
Agreed to by the Senate, February 18, 1999

WHEREAS, the transition to the new millennium on January 1, 2000, is an exciting event and much is being done, and will continue to be done, to ensure that computers, software programs, databases, networks, information systems, firmware, and other devices make a smooth transition to the new millennium; and

WHEREAS, in addition to the date of January 1, 2000, other dates have been identified that may be affected by “the millennium bug”; and

WHEREAS, included among those dates are April 1, 1999, the first day of fiscal year 2000 for some government and corporate entities; April 9, 1999, the 99th day of 1999, read as “9999” on a Julian calendar, and used by many programmers as a “holding date”; July 1, 1999, the first day of fiscal year 2000 for 46 of 50 states, including Virginia; September 9, 1999, read as “9999” on the more common Gregorian calendar; October 1, 1999, the first day of fiscal year 2000 for the federal government; December 31, 1999, the last day of the 20th century, which is used by many programmers as a “holding date”; February 29, 2000, a leap year date; March 1, 2000, a potential problem if the date of February 29, 2000, is not properly processed; December 31, 2000, the 366th day of 2000 and another potential problem if the date of February 29, 2000, is not properly processed; and January 1, 2001, for computers based on cycles starting from 1901 instead of 1900, the year 2001 will appear as “00” in the date field; and

WHEREAS, to date, the Commonwealth has made a significant investment in money and personnel to ensure that its computers, software programs, databases, networks, information systems, firmware, and other devices are compliant with the Year 2000 date change; and

WHEREAS, state employees and other personnel will continue to work on repairing, renovating, modifying, converting, and testing computers, software programs, databases, networks, information systems, firmware, and other devices through 1998 and 1999 and well into the Year 2000; and

WHEREAS, as the new millennium approaches, it is expected that more and more financial and human resources will be expended to ensure Year 2000 readiness; and

WHEREAS, whenever any organization implements a new program or procedure, it is time consuming and resource intensive; and

WHEREAS, implementation of a new program or procedure on or around January 1, 2000, or the other dates that may be affected by “the millennium bug” could detract from the financial or personnel resources that should be expended on the Year 2000 effort or, conversely, could detract from the financial or personnel resources that should be expended on the new program or procedure; and

WHEREAS, if problems or difficulties are encountered in implementing a new program or procedure on or about January 1, 2000, or the other dates that may be affected by “the millennium bug,” it would be difficult to determine whether the problems or difficulties were related to the new program or procedure itself or a lack of Year 2000 readiness; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of these realities, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the organization representing state insurance regulators, voted in September 1998 to refrain from adopting or recommending model laws or regulations that would hinder insurance companies’ efforts to achieve Year 2000 compliance; and

WHEREAS, the National Coalition of Insurance Legislators and the National Conference of State Legislators endorsed this moratorium, which is in effect from July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000; and

WHEREAS, the action of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners was an example of prudent policy making and recognizes that organizations, such as insurance companies, need to expend their financial and personnel resources on Year 2000 readiness without the distractions of new programs or procedures; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That state agencies and institutions be encouraged to avoid certain dates for the implementation of new programs or procedures as they prepare for the Year 2000. Such dates are those on or about April 1, 1999; April 9, 1999; July 1, 1999; September 9, 1999; October 1, 1999; December 31, 1999; January 1, 2000; February 29, 2000; March 1, 2000; December 31, 2000; and January 1, 2001; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to His Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealth, and the Secretaries of Administration, Commerce and Trade, Education, Finance, Health and Human Resources, Natural Resources, Public Safety, Technology, and Transportation, requesting that they further disseminate copies of this resolution to the respective agency heads and information technology personnel at the agencies so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.