Antique Tech Snarls Harrisburg

Antique Tech Snarls Harrisburg

Antique Tech Snarls HarrisburgBy Sen. Scott Wagner

Last Friday, the Central Penn Business Journal published an article titled: “Government contracting: Old tech dies hard.”

The first sentence describes how out-dated a computer system and process is in Harrisburg.

“The department that processes Pennsylvania’s unemployment claims relies on a computer system so old that, if it were a human being, it would qualify for membership in AARP.”

Over the last 10 years, over $400 million was spent on this computer system upgrade. The $400 million was wasted. We still have a 50-year-old computer system.

This is an absolute disgrace – $400 million of taxpayer money down the drain. Has anybody been held accountable?in the private sector world, anyone involved in the waste of this amount of money without absolutely zero results to show for the money spent would be fired.

I feel confident making the statement that over the last 10 years Harrisburg has wasted several billion dollars on similar projects.

This type of outdated technology is everywhere in state government.

A reasonable person would ask how Pennsylvania state government could be so outdated with it’s computer systems.

It is very simple – Governors come and go, agency secretaries come and go, and entrenched career bureaucrats stay below the radar screen and allow the status quo thinking to continue.

I have visited several state agencies over the last three years and have talked to the people doing the real work, and they have story after story of their frustration.

These people want to do the right thing and fully know that money is being wasted, or have ideas that could save money, but their ideas fall on deaf ears or are told to look the other way.

Legislators regularly pass bills that involve funding for various initiatives. After the voting is over, after the money moves to a specific department, there is no oversight and zero accountability.

This type of culture has to change in Harrisburg. Outright wasting of money has to stop. Changing the culture in Harrisburg will require a person with strong  leadership  skills  in the Governor’s office.

For over 35 years, I have started several private sector businesses from scratch and have worked with many resources and professionals along with the management teams at these companies to ensure that we have the latest tools and technology in place that allow these businesses to be able to stay in front of all the changes that we have faced over the years in order to survive in a highly competitive business environment.

I have repeatedly stated before, that many employees in state government in Harrisburg are starving for leadership and they want to be part of a culture change.

When I become the next Governor of Pennsylvania, I look forward to working with the people who want to be part of making Pennsylvania even greater!

Antique Tech Snarls Harrisburg

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