1999 Montana Legislature

About Bill -- Links

HOUSE BILL NO. 84

INTRODUCED BY EWER D

BY REQUEST OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT BOARD



A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT LIMITING THE LIABILITY OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT BOARD AND THE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT BOARD AND THEIR EMPLOYEES FOR ANY COMPUTER ERRORS AND RESULTING HARM CAUSED BY THE MILLENNIUM CHANGE; PROVIDING IMMUNITY; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE AND A TERMINATION DATE."



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:



     NEW SECTION.  Section 1.  Limitation of actions -- immunity -- definitions. (1) An action that arises from a failure of or an error by an electronic computing device may not be brought against the public employees' retirement board established in 2-15-1009, the teachers' retirement board established in 2-15-1010, or the boards' employees if the failure or error occurs prior to January 1, 2005, and results directly or indirectly from the millennium bug.

     (2) Nothing in this section may be interpreted to interfere with rights to receive statutorily mandated services, entitlements, or compensation from the governing boards. If the millennium bug directly or indirectly causes an error or failure with respect to delivering services, entitlements, or compensation, the remedies available are the existing administrative procedures or remedies provided by law, except as expressly limited in this section. The only compensation for the error or failure is the value of the service, amount of the entitlement, or amount of the compensation that was due.

     (3) Nothing in this section is applicable to an action based on fraud or intentional harm.     

     (4) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:

     (a) "Electronic computing device" means any computer hardware, software, firmware, computer chip, embedded chip, process control equipment, timing device, or other information system that:

     (i) captures, stores, manipulates, or processes data; or

     (ii) controls, monitors, or assists in the operation of a physical apparatus that is not primarily used as a computer and that relies on automation or digital technology to function, including but not limited to vehicles, vessels, buildings, structures, facilities, elevators, medical equipment, traffic signals, factory machinery, and similar appliances, equipment, instruments, and machinery.

     (b) "Millennium bug" means the failure of or an error by an electronic computing device that is not year 2000 compliant, regardless of the cause of the failure or error, including the:

     (i) shutdown, corruption of data, or another malfunction of an electronic computing device;

     (ii) reinfection of a device that is year 2000 compliant with noncompliant programming or data; and

     (iii) failure to detect, prevent, and correct the problem if the effort to detect, prevent, and correct the problem is carried out in substantial compliance with generally accepted computer and information system standards in effect at the time of the effort.

     (c) "Year 2000 compliant" means that an electronic computing device accurately processes, recognizes, displays, calculates, compares, projects, and sequences dates, including leap years, from more than 1 century between the years 1999 and 2000 and between the 20th and 21st centuries.



     NEW SECTION.  Section 2.  Coordination instruction. If [LC 250] is passed and approved and if it includes provisions that limit actions that may be brought against governmental entities, as defined in 2-9-101, for computer errors and resulting harm caused by the millennium change, then [this act] is void.



     NEW SECTION.  Section 3.  Severability. If a part of [this act] is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of [this act] is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.



     NEW SECTION.  Section 4.  Two-thirds vote required. Because [section 1] limits governmental liability, Article II, section 18, of the Montana constitution requires a vote of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature for passage.



     NEW SECTION.  Section 5.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.



     NEW SECTION.  Section 6.  Termination. [This act] terminates January 1, 2005.

- END -




Latest Version of HB 84 (HB0084.01)
Processed for the Web on December 14, 1998 (3:07PM)

New language in a bill appears underlined, deleted material appears stricken.

Sponsor names are handwritten on introduced bills, hence do not appear on the bill until it is reprinted. See the status of this bill for the bill's primary sponsor.

Status of this Bill | 1999 Session | Leg. Branch Home
This bill in WP 5.1 | All versions of all bills in WP 5.1

Prepared by Montana Legislative Services
(406)444-3064
lheiman@mt.gov