Kosky says Dept Labor wants 14 monthinterest free loan for Benefit Plan y2k computer problems!

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

http://www.y2k.gov/new/10days.html

December 21, 1999 Koskinen: Y2K Glitches Are Not Limited To January 1. In his December 14 luncheon speech at the National Press Club, Y2K Council Chairman John Koskinen expressed confidence in the nation's readiness for the century date change but cautioned against thinking that any and all Y2K glitches will have surfaced by January 1. "Another factor that makes Y2K so interesting is the temptation to think of January 1 as a seminal date on which everything, or nothing, Y2K-related will occur," said Koskinen. "Y2K challenges can happen any time a computer that is not Y2K-compliant comes into contact with a Year 2000 date -- before or after January 1." Koskinen noted that, for many organizations, the first billing and financial cycles in the Year 2000 won't occur until days or weeks after January 1. Full text of Koskinen's National Press Club speech is available at www.y2k.gov.

9-1-1 Survey Results. Results from the latest National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Y2K readiness survey of 9-1-1 centers released on December 15 indicate that more than 98.5 percent of the nation's 9-1-1 centers have tested all of their equipment and are completely Y2K ready. The survey found that 100 percent of the responding centers will be able to perform "basic" 9-1-1 service, which is the ability to answer the phone and dispatch emergency services to callers. For more information on the NENA survey, see the NENA web site at www.nena.org.

Demand for Petroleum Products Up, But Not Because of Y2K, Industry Group Says. Demand for most petroleum products, as measured by "deliveries" from the industry to distributors, continued upward in November at 19.746 million barrels a day, a 5.7 percent increase compared to a year ago, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on December 15. API said the nearly 14 percent increase in distillate fuel oil deliveries, used to make diesel fuel and to heat homes, was more of a surge in fuel leaving refineries, large bulk terminals and pipelines to distributors than anything to do with possible Y2K stockpiling. By mid-December, API officials said industry supplies were adequate for the Y2K rollover period and that companies reported their computer systems ready and able to handle winter demand surges as in the past with a network of multiple supply sources.

Federal Systems Are 99.9 Percent Compliant. According to the Office of Management and Budget's most recent quarterly report, released on December 14, 99.9 percent of the Federal Government's more than 6,100 mission-critical systems are now Y2K compliant. The eight systems remaining - in the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense - are scheduled for completion before the end of December.

Amtrak - New Year's Holiday Adjustments. While Amtrak believes its systems are Y2K-ready, all 53 trains operating will stop as briefly as possible in the nearest convenient stations just prior to midnight on Friday, December 31 before resuming operations. On December 31 and throughout the weekend, Amtrak will double the number of staff monitoring train operations from Amtrak's Consolidated National Operations Center in Wilmington, Delaware. The team will be in constant contact with train crews and with other railroads. Extra personnel will be working through the weekend.

U.S. Banks and Thrifts Are Ready for Y2K, According to Federal Regulators. Every one of the 10,200 or so U.S. banks and thrifts have received a "satisfactory rating" for the Year 2000 computer problem preparedness, key Federal banking agencies announced on December 13. At a news conference in held in Atlanta, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Donna Tanoue, Office of Thrift Supervision Director Ellen Seidman, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Jack Guynn and Georgia Department of Banking and Finance Commissioner Steve Bridges said that banks and thrifts are well-prepared for the century date change.

Unemployment Insurance Systems Y2K Ready. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, all systems nationwide that support the Unemployment Insurance program are Y2K ready. The Department and its partners in the 53 State Employment Security Agencies began in 1996 to confront the challenge of repairing or replacing the three critical systems in each jurisdiction which: (1) process and pay claims for benefits; (2) process tax billings and collections; and (3) maintain employees' wage histories. The States rely upon these systems to annually issue payments in excess of $20 billion to approximately 8 million unemployed workers and collect taxes of about $22 billion from 6.5 million employers, making it one of the largest benefit systems in the nation. States have prepared contingency plans to establish procedures for continued Unemployment Insurance program operations in the event of unanticipated Year 2000-related problems.

USDA Child Nutrition Programs. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, all 54 States, territories, and the District of Columbia report that systems supporting Child Nutrition programs were compliant as of December 15. Internally, USDA's 344 mission-critical and 336 non-mission critical systems are now 100 percent compliant. Business continuity and contingency plans and a Day One rollover strategy are in place and have been exercised.

Y2K Exemptions for Employee Benefit Plans. The U.S. Department of Labor is proposing an amendment to an existing exemption which would allow employee benefit plans to receive interest free loans and extensions of credit from related parties for no more than 14 months, beginning November 1, 1999, to pay for unanticipated Y2K computer problems. While the Department believes that plans will continue to operate without interruption, the exemption from the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) gives plans access to additional resources in prudently planning for all Y2K contingencies. If adopted, the exemption will remove technical restrictions while protecting plan funds and workers' benefits from unanticipated problems associated with the malfunction of plan computers. Under the Administrative Procedures Act, the proposed amendment is currently open for comment in the Federal Register.

Y2K Council Web Site Changes. Beginning on Tuesday, December 28, the Y2K Council's web site - www.y2k.gov - will take on a different look. Users entering the site will be greeted by pages that during the rollover period will contain information released at the Council's Information Coordination Center, including transcripts of press briefings, agency press releases, and ICC bulletins on the status of systems in key sectors such as power, transportation, and telecommunications.

Another addition to the Y2K Council web site is health care product compliance information that had previously been in a members-only database operated by the Rx2000 Solutions Institute. Rx2000 has agreed to make this information available free of charge through web sites operated by the Council and the International Y2K Cooperation Center.

# # #

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 21, 1999

Answers

"Y2K challenges"

Not bugs, not even glitches, but now challenges.

He'll be calling them opportunities soon. That's not flippant, the UK government already has been yakking on about the benefits of Y2K in forcing businesses to review their processes and supply chains.

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 22, 1999.


Y2k has been a collossal liability/cost to all companies there is no upside, all investment spent on y2k was merely to keep companies where they were. Of course y2k problems will occur throughout the year, only failure of utiities (if it happens) will be noticed immediately. All y2k problems will be covered up.

-- Sir R (richard.dale@unum.co.uk), December 22, 1999.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ