State Comptroller Nancy Wyman today was honored by the Connecticut State Employees Association for saving millions of taxpayer dollars by using state employees rather than expensive outside contractors to convert her agency's computers to be Year 2000 ready.

Wyman, the state's chief fiscal guardian, announced in August that agency employees would complete the project for about $750,000; approximately $5 million less than estimates based on the use of outside contractors to do the work.

Wyman said the success of the project not only demonstrates the ability of the state's computer specialists, but shows that the state should reconsider a pending proposal to spend an estimated $1 billion to turn over most of its computer operations to a private vendor.

"Nancy Wyman's courageous leadership on this project shows that she is unwilling to waste taxpayers' money when our state employees can do the job better, cheaper and faster," said Oscar Gomez, President of CSEA's P-4 Council of scientific and technical workers. "We appreciate her support and her confidence that state employees are up to the difficult challenges facing this state."

Wyman said she was proud that her agency had the vision to attack the problem early and to use the skills of her staff to save taxpayer dollars.

"This project is evidence of what can be achieved when management and employees work together," she said. "In this case, the winners are the hardworking taxpayers of Connecticut."

The computer systems in the Comptroller's office handle more than $15 billion of transactions yearly, including the state's payroll and all payments to vendors. The Year 2000 conversion work is designed to prevent potential computer processing problems on Jan. 1, 2000.

Wyman was honored at a CSEA luncheon held today at La Renaissance in East Windsor. CSEA represents about 28,000 state employees.

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For Immediate Release
December 11, 1998

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