Washington lobbyists are being hired by computer companies that hope to make money on the year-2000 problem--aka the millennium bug, or, to those really in the know, Y2K. Unless federal agencies act soon, the government's computer systems could go berserk just after midnight on Dec. 31, 1999, because computer software will interpret 00 as 1900 instead of 2000. The Clinton Administration has estimated the cost of fixing government computers at $3.9 billion.
Software companies looking for a piece of this action have hired several prominent former officials. Former Rep. Alan Wheat, D-Mo., a name partner in the Washington lobbying firm Winburn, Jenkins & Wheat, represents Kansas City (Mo.)-based Paradigm Systems Consulting. Paradigm wants to work with the Labor and Transportation Departments on their computer problems, Wheat said. "It's not a lobbying client. It's a business development or marketing client."
Alydaar, a Charlotte (N.C.)-based computer software firm, has hired former Rep. J. Alex McMillan, R-N.C., president of the Alexandria (Va.)-based McMillan Group, a lobbying and merchant banking firm. He's also an investor in Alydaar, which specializes in helping business and government solve their year-2000 computer problems. "Our concern is public policy," McMillan said. "The government hasn't appropriated any significant funds to deal with the problem."
Steve Ricchetti of Public Strategies Washington Inc., who's a former Clinton White House lobbyist, has registered to lobby for ISI/ADP Services Inc.
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