Creation of a new Workforce Services Department will eliminate most duplication in training workers and also be a boost to getting people off welfare by providing one-stop help, according to Rep. Grant D. Protzman, D-North Ogden.
With all of the federal funding changes being made in Washington, D.C., it's a good time to change some of the programs in Utah that receive federal money, Protzman said during the Utah Manufacturer's Association second annual legislative wrap-up in Little America.Protzman said two years ago a task force began studying how the state could bring certain welfare, training and job placement services into one agency and the result was HB375 that passed in the recent legislative sessions.
In coming months several study groups will examine various agencies in state government, including the State Industrial Commission, to determine how various functions can be combined in the new department. An acting executive director for the department will be appointed by Gov. Mike Leavitt, but that person won't take over until July 1, 1997.
Protzman said task force members from the private sector generally agreed on different proposals but found representatives of government agencies disagreeing on whether or not there should be a new department and how make changes once a department is formed.
He said the new department will result in more accountability through simplification of governance and operation, private sector leadership and involvement, an effort at continuous improvement, providing market-driven training, funding commensurate with the need and services designed and delivered by local officials although it will be a state-based program.
There is some support for allowing the Workers Compensation Fund of Utah to become more diverse and provide health and disability in addition to workers' compensation insurance, Protzman said, but that was opposed by many insurance companies.
As a result, that issue will be studied in the next 18 months. Meanwhile, HB375 prevents the fund from selling those types of insurance until 1998.
Another speaker was Rep. John L. Valentine, R-Orem, who said it was a difficult session for him personally trying to deal with the surpluses that came from three different fiscal years. He said not all of the $500 million surplus could be spent because some of it was from ongoing money and some of it from one-time money.
Valentine said the income tax reduction will have the biggest impact in the lowest brackets. The $20 or $30 reduction that each person will receive doesn't seem like much, but people should remember that income tax increases came in small increments.
Larry Bunkall, UMA president, and Steve Lawson, chairman of the UMA board of trustees, said overall the Legislature was pretty good to business.