HB 57: "An Act relating to immunity for certain claims against the state, a municipality, or agents, officers, or employees of either, arising out of or in connection with the year 2000 date change; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 57 01 "An Act relating to immunity for certain claims against the state, a 02 municipality, or agents, officers, or employees of either, arising out of or in 03 connection with the year 2000 date change; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. FINDINGS AND INTENT. (a) The legislature finds that 06 (1) for decades, business and government computer programmers around the 07 world generally saved expensive data storage space and data entry time by storing the year 08 as two digits instead of four; for example, 1900 would likely have been entered as 00; 09 (2) as a result of the storing practice, many mainframe and personal computers; 10 software of all kinds; and traffic control, medical, and other equipment that has a 11 microprocessor interpret "00" as the year 1900 rather than the year 2000 and many of these 12 systems may fail or cause errors for years beyond 1999; 13 (3) the year 2000 date change creates an unparalleled challenge to state and 14 municipal government operations and its effect is imminent, impacting some electronic
01 computing devices well before December 31, 1999; 02 (4) exhaustive state preventative efforts in accordance with the governor's 03 directives are presently underway to identify, test, and develop contingency plans for state 04 government operations, prioritizing first for mission critical systems, to provide uninterrupted 05 public services; 06 (5) even with the best efforts utilizing the appropriations and personnel 07 resources available to state and municipal governments and with due diligence, the magnitude 08 and the depth of systems affected by the year 2000 date change throughout state and local 09 government operations make it likely impossible to foresee and prevent all failures due to the 10 date change; 11 (6) extensive civil actions based on year 2000 date change failures are 12 anticipated in many areas of general commerce and industry; and 13 (7) it is in the public interest that the state apply its limited resources to 14 remediation efforts related to this important year 2000 date change rather than to the costs of 15 litigation. 16 (b) The intent of this Act is 17 (1) to recognize that it is a complex and difficult challenge to prepare state and 18 municipal government agency-owned, operated, and inspected electronic devices for the year 19 2000; 20 (2) to acknowledge that due diligence by state and municipal governments is 21 being used to provide uninterrupted public services to the people of Alaska; 22 (3) to appreciate that even the due diligence described in (2) of this subsection 23 may not suffice to prevent system failures of those public services; 24 (4) to ensure that a person's right to receive mandated services or entitlements 25 authorized under state law or municipal ordinances is not interpreted to be interfered with by 26 this Act; and 27 (5) not to prevent a person from seeking recourse through existing 28 administrative procedure provided by state and municipal ordinance to obtain services or 29 entitlements even though this Act precludes the award of compensation for consequences of 30 a failure described in this Act. 31 * Sec. 2. AS 09.50 is amended by adding a new section to read:
01 Sec. 09.50.255. Immunity for claims against the state arising out of or in 02 connection with the year 2000 date change. (a) Notwithstanding any contrary 03 provisions of AS 09.50.250, an action may not be brought against the state, or against 04 an agent, officer, or employee of the state for an act or omission occurring in the scope 05 of that person's employment or work for the state, for damages caused directly or 06 indirectly by a failure, in connection with the year 2000 date change, of an electronic 07 computing device owned, controlled, or operated by the state, or arising out of an 08 inspection or review of an electronic computing device owned, controlled, or operated 09 by others. 10 (b) In this section, 11 (1) "electronic computing device" includes any computer hardware or 12 software, computer chip, embedded chip, process control equipment, or other 13 information system that is used to capture, store, manipulate, or process data, or that 14 controls, monitors, or assists in the operation of a physical apparatus that is not 15 primarily used as a computer but that relies on automation or digital technology to 16 function; 17 (2) "physical apparatus that is not primarily used as a computer" 18 includes a vehicle, vessel, building, structure, facility, elevator, medical equipment, 19 traffic signal, machinery, access controls, and similar types of items; 20 (3) "year 2000 date change" includes processing date or time data from, 21 into, and between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and leap year calculations; 22 in this paragraph, "processing" includes calculating, comparing, sequencing, displaying, 23 and storing. 24 * Sec. 3. AS 09.65.070(d) is amended to read: 25 (d) An action for damages may not be brought against a municipality or any 26 of its agents, officers, or employees if the claim 27 (1) is based on a failure of the municipality, or its agents, officers, or 28 employees, when the municipality is neither owner nor lessee of the property involved, 29 (A) to inspect property for a violation of any statute, regulation, 30 or ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety; 31 (B) to discover a violation of any statute, regulation, or
01 ordinance, or a hazard to health or safety if an inspection of property is made; 02 or 03 (C) to abate a violation of any statute, regulation, or ordinance, 04 or a hazard to health or safety discovered on property inspected; 05 (2) is based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise 06 or perform a discretionary function or duty by a municipality or its agents, officers, 07 or employees, whether or not the discretion involved is abused; 08 (3) is based upon the grant, issuance, refusal, suspension, delay, or 09 denial of a license, permit, appeal, approval, exception, variance, or other entitlement, 10 or a rezoning; 11 (4) is based on the exercise or performance during the course of 12 gratuitous extension of municipal services on an extraterritorial basis; 13 (5) is based upon the exercise or performance of a duty or function 14 upon the request of, or by the terms of an agreement or contract with, the state to meet 15 emergency public safety requirements; [OR] 16 (6) is based on the exercise or performance of a duty in connection 17 with an enhanced 911 emergency system and is not based on an intentional act of 18 misconduct or on an act of gross negligence ; or 19 (7) is caused directly or indirectly by a failure, in connection with 20 the year 2000 date change, of an electronic computing device owned, controlled, 21 or operated by the municipality, or by an agent, officer, or employee of the 22 municipality and occurring in the scope of that person's employment or work for 23 the municipality . 24 * Sec. 4. AS 09.65.070(e) is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 25 (3) "electronic computing device" includes any computer hardware or 26 software, computer chip, embedded chip, process control equipment, or other 27 information system that is used to capture, store, manipulate, or process data, or that 28 controls, monitors, or assists in the operation of a physical apparatus that is not 29 primarily used as a computer but that relies on automation or digital technology to 30 function; 31 (4) "physical apparatus that is not primarily used as a computer"
01 includes a vehicle, vessel, building, structure, facility, elevator, medical equipment, 02 traffic signal, machinery, access controls, and similar types of items; 03 (5) "year 2000 date change" includes processing date or time data from, 04 into, and between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and leap year calculations; 05 in this paragraph, "processing" includes calculating, comparing, sequencing, displaying, 06 and storing. 07 * Sec. 5. AS 09.50.255; AS 09.65.070(d)(7), and 09.65.070(e)(3) and (4) are repealed 08 January 1, 2006. 09 * Sec. 6. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to all actions for damages arising from any 10 failure described in AS 09.50.255 or AS 09.65.070(d)(7) in connection with the year 2000 date 11 change occurring on or after the effective date of this Act but before January 1, 2006. 12 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).