The new cost estimates fall within President Clinton's budget request for fiscal 1999, Deseve said. Congress is also seeking emergency funding to cope with Y2K computer conversions. Other agencies that are lagging behind include the departments of Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Transportation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The head of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, John Koskinen, also meets monthly with senior managers at the troubled agencies. However, only 37 percent of those systems have been tested to assure they work with the new date.
Testing is the most time-consuming process.
The Social Security Administration has completed 87 percent of its testing, the State Department has not done any. Federal agencies have run into resistance in coordinating efforts with phone and other telecommunications systems, building operations, and laboratory equipment from contractors that are reluctant to reveal information about their products' Y2K compliance. Recent legislation to protect businesses from lawsuits when they divulge Y2K information should boost data sharing when it passes, Deseve said. The new millennium is approaching quickly.