The first major phase of Maryland’s broadband expansion project is now live, bringing high-speed broadband access to much of Southern Maryland. Charles County, St. Mary’s and Calvert County all have expanded access, bringing new services to subscribers throughout some of Maryland’s more rural areas. Governor O’Malley was on hand to mark the milestone, the GovernorRead… Read more »
New York will be getting a boost to its tech sector thanks to a large investment from five technology companies. Intel, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Samsung, and TSMC are investing $4.4 Billion in the state’s nanotechnology sector, an investment that is expected to create 6,900 jobs. New York was picked over several other countries in the runningRead… Read more »
States may be able to opt-out of expanding Medicaid coverage if two Senators have their way. Senators Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso introduced a bill last week designed to provide ‘Medicaid flexibility,’ for states. The Senators argue that Medicaid is a drag on state budgets and plans to expand the program under federal health careRead… Read more »
According to census data, cash strapped state governments are firing public employees and replacing them with part-timers at an increased rate. Census numbers show that nationwide, state governments have lost over 200,000 public employees leaving much of the work to be done by part time employees. Many states are grappling with the cost of pensionsRead… Read more »
Illinois and Minnesota are moving forward on expansions to their in-state broadband networks. Frontier Communications recently expanded its service offerings to several Illinois communities including eight cities in deep southern Illinois. Additionally, Paul Bunyan Communications was awarded a $17 million dollar loan from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand its services throughout Minnesota.Read… Read more »
Florida is facing an investigation of its broadband expansion plan. The federal government has suspended a $30.1 million grant award to the North Florida Broadband Authority amidst allegations of poor supervision of the project and waste. Work has already been stopped on the project which was set to bring high-speed broadband to 14 Florida counties.Read… Read more »
In an effort to increase his office’s transparency, Governor Cuomo of New York launched a new transparency website today called CitizenConnects. The website is meant to provide information about the Governor’s activities and will also offer online townhalls and live chats with the Governor. The Governor will be holding weekly live chats through the websiteRead… Read more »
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed new laws yesterday that are focused on the state’s health care system. The new rules will impose a 1% tax on all health care claims paid in the state and use that money to provide health care for low-income residents. A second bill makes the state eligible for $780 millionRead… Read more »
Tyler Technologies and Microsoft have finished their first-ever deployment of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for the public sector. Tyler Technologies implemented Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2012 with the city of Redmond, Washington to help the city improve its workflow and transactions processes. Redmond implemented the technology as part of its broader municipal strategic technologyRead… Read more »
WellPoint, the nation’s largest health insurer is setting up a private health insurance exchange to compete with those created and managed by governments under federal health care reform legislation. The exchange is a joint effort between WellPoint, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and Health Care Service Corporation. The exchange will serve all national marketsRead… Read more »