AeA partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on March 13 to promote HHS’s Value Driven Health Care Initiative.  Tim Guertin, AeA Chairman of the Board and President and CEO of Varian Medical Systems, was Chairman of the host committee.

HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt spoke to an audience of 100+ Silicon Valley Health IT leaders at the Computer History Museum on the Four Cornerstones of the HHS Value-Driven Healthcare Initiative.  The four cornerstones are:

• Support health information technology;
• Provide quality information;
• Provide pricing information; and
• Promote quality and efficiency of care.

Over forty leading Health IT companies signed onto the Secretary’s initiative at this conference.  For more information or to sign your company onto the initiative visit:  http://www.hhs.gov/transparency/.

The AeA Board of Directors anticipates that healthcare will surface as a public policy issue this year, driven not only by the large number of people uninsured, but also by businesses whose healthcare costs continue to rise.  As a result, AeA supports legislation to spur the deployment of Health IT initiatives – such as electronic medical records – to reduce costs, improve quality, and save lives.

John Palafoutas (bio)
Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy & Congressional Affairs

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Staying on top of policy issues that may affect your business in all 50 states is a daunting task, especially as many state legislatures have began to tackle issues which have historically been federal in nature.  As a member of AeA, you have access to multiple resources that assist in protecting your companies in the states.

Several of these member benefits exclusively available to you include:

• A online multi-state legislative and regulatory tracking service;
• The opportunity to attend AeA's State Policy Action Network (SPAN) conference;
• A network of full-time staff and contract lobbyists acting as your eyes, ears, and voice on the ground for technology issues in the most active state legislatures; and
• Industry leading policy updates authored directly from the same government affairs specialists roaming the halls of these active statehouses.

I highly encourage you to utilize these benefits and to sign up to receive these policy updates.  Excerpts from many of these periodicals can be found below:

• California Weekly Monday Morning Report
  Last week AeA’s California State Government Affairs Committee took official oppose positions on three California bills that will impact or modify California’s Electronic Waste Law.  AB 564 (Brownley) and AB 1535 (Huffman) would expand the current scope of the law to include “CPU towers” or “Personal Computers”....read more.
   
• Georgia Legislative Weekly Report
  SB 24 (Staton)...makes it illegal for the owner or operator of a social networking website to allow a minor using a computer in Georgia to create or maintain a profile on a social networking website without the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian.  Parents must also be provided access to minor child’s profile page...read more.
   
• AeA Oregon Capitol Update
  SB 246 – Bans using a cell phone while driving.  No state has yet banned cell phones in the car completely.  New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia require the use of hands-free devices...read more.
   
• This Week in Olympia (Washington State)
  Senate Bill 5685, which would remove the provision that makes companies subtract .92 percent of their R&D spending when calculating their R&D B&O credit, was passed out of the Senate.  However House Bill 1695, the House companion, did not pass before the deadline...read more.
   
• StateNet Capitol Journal (Multi-State -- News & Views from the 50 States)
  After over two years of waiting, the federal Department of Homeland Security recently released its long awaited regulations for states to implement the federal Real ID Act.  But while states were pleased to have been granted their wish for an extension for complying with the new statute – from 2008 to 2009 to begin compliance and 2013 for full compliance - few are finding much else to be happy about...read more.

Roxanne Gould (bio)
Senior Vice President, California State Legislative and Public Affairs

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Annual Technology 4 Government Dinner - Sponsorship and Table Opportunities Are Now Available

AeA is excited to announce that limited sponsorship opportunities are now available for AeA's Technology 4 Government Dinner.  This annual dinner has become the premier networking event that brings the government's leading CIO’s, CTO’s, Procurement Officials, Program Managers, Members of Congress, and the White House together with high-tech industry leaders from around the country.

The keynote speaker at the dinner will be Jonathan Schwartz (bio), President and CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc.  Please join our current Platinum Sponsors Cisco, Motorola, and Symantec; and our Gold Sponsors of Adobe, Apple, Citrix, HP, Microsoft, and UHC; in hosting government VIP prospects and/or clients at your table and thanking them for their dedication to purchasing the best technology available to fulfill their agency needs.

In previous years, we have had many success stories of seeds that were planted directly from this event for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of government contracts that were competitively won.  For more information on this must attend event or the benefits of sponsorship please visit www.aeanet.org/t4g2007 or contact Goldy Kamali, Director, Federal Government Market Group, at 202.682.4432 or goldy_kamali@aeanet.org

Pictures from Previous AeA Technology 4 Government Dinners:

Cheryl Watkins, Symantec; and Scott Charbo, CIO, DHS at the 2006 dinner	Jim Balsillie, Chairman & Co-CEO, Research in Motion, delivering the 2006 keynote address
General Steven Boutelle, CIO, Army speaks with guests at the 2005 dinner	Anne M. Mulcahy, Chairman & CEO, Xerox gives the 2005 keynote address
Current House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) & Wood Parker, Northrop Grumman, at the 2004 dinner	Bruce Chizen, President & CEO, Adobe gives the 2004 keynote address

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