Friday, January 28, 2005

Is OMB Blog a Blog? OMB charts funding growth for the Dept. of Homeland Security P2C2 Group has created the "Unofficial OMB Blog" reporting on news reports that relate to the US Office of Planning and Budget.  I don't know that this is a real blog in the traditional sense, rather a listing of news items harvested through Google.  It may be useful, however, if you just want to keep up with the latest news on OMB. The wheels of government can move pretty slow at times.  The Colorado legislature passed a bill that required a plan for implementing a new state portal to be submitted by July of last year.  I guess the plan was submitted and the Statewide Internet Portal Authority was created, but the state portal still looks the same in January 2005. Interesting to see that John Thomas Flynn, former CIO of Massachussetts and California is now running for Congress. E-governance makes progress in India. Tom Ridge is advising the new DHS Secretary that IT integration must be a priority. 7:05:57 AM    comment []

Technology Governance Bill Proposed John Dougall is proposing to improve IT governance in the state.  He is sponsoring a bill that will make significant changes to the Utah Technology Commission, resulting in a commission that is comprised solely of legislators.  His bill also creates the Utah Government Technology Strategy Committee (UGTSC) with membership appointed by the CIO.  The GSTSC could have members from state agencies, local government, higher education, public education, courts, etc. and would make recommendations to the Commission.  It looks like this bill elevates the role of technology in state government and strengthens the position of CIO. 6:18:05 AM    comment []

eFile options continue to improve Time to put in my annual plug for efile.  I used TaxAct again this year and it has never been easier.  In a few minutes, I had filed both my state and federal returns.  The next day, I received an email that my return had been accepted by the IRS.  Two days later (Monday), I received a similar notice for my federal return.  Today, the state refund was deposited into my account.  I've never had that happen before the end of January.  That's good, it means our State Tax Commission is getting even more efficient. Here's a list of free filing options. 6:09:22 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 David Fletcher.