A top programmer may be 100 times as productive as an ordinary programmer. The state is likely to lose many of the programmers it needs to solve its Y2K problems to the private sector if it does not match what the private sector will offer them. Reorganize departments to have technical decisions made, and technical personnel hired, by technically trained persons. Set up a network of investigators, outside the State Auditor's office, to inquire into how well departments are operating generally, especially on computer matters, and how well critical private sector providers are dealing with their Y2K problems. The legislature should not have to rely only on reports by top officials who may or may not understand what is going on in their own organizations.
Someone needs to talk to the people actually doing the work.
And if some sector like the railroads refuses to testify, someone needs to be able to find out why and what is really going on. Put the priority on replacement, not remediation. Most old software and the machines it runs on are probably long overdue for replacement anyway. And replacement is the only way anyone can be fairly sure there won't be Y2K failures, especially in the time available. Mainframes should be phased out wherever possible, and replaced by networks of supermicros.