House passes bill to create Department of Technology Services after debate over merit protections

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House on Feb. 14 approved legislation to reorganize state information technology operations into a new Department of Technology Services and set an 18‑month transition plan, following debate over protections for career‑service employees.

Representative Dave Clark, sponsor of House Bill 109, told colleagues the measure is the product of a two‑year Utah Technology Commission review and would create the new department as of July 1, 2005, with the chief information officer serving as transition director. "The bill creates a new Department of Technology Services as of 07/01/2005 and establishes an 18 month transition process," Clark said, outlining transfer agreements, reporting requirements and a requirement for quarterly legislative reports during transition.

Lawmakers focused on whether employees who hold merit (career) status would keep those protections when their functions or positions move into the new department. Representative Cheryl Allen offered an amendment she described as a "good faith requirement" that would preserve merit status for current career‑service employees whose duties remain substantially similar after transfer and require efforts to retrain or move qualified career‑service employees into other state positions when appropriate. "This amendment adds protection for career service employees by placing into statute a good faith requirement for both the chief information officer and department directors to preserve relevant merit positions," Allen said.

Representative Clark called Allen's change "a very friendly amendment" that adds clarity consistent with the bill's intent. Representative Becker offered a substitute amendment that would have provided a different, broader protection; the House rejected Becker's substitute and adopted Allen's amendment.

Opponents of limiting non‑merit hiring, including Representative Wheatley, cautioned that strict limits could reduce the state's flexibility to hire specialized IT talent on short‑term project work, arguing public employers often must compete with private‑sector salary markets to recruit IT expertise. "One of the most difficult challenges for an IT manager in government is to hire and retain IT professionals," Wheatley said.

After debate and amendment votes, the House closed the roll call. According to the official reading of the clerk recorded in the floor transcript, House Bill 109 "having received 52 yes votes, 18 no votes, passes this body and will be referred to the Senate for further consideration." The bill authorizes the governor and the CIO to carry out the transition, establishes legislative oversight and requires reporting on supplemental budgets tied to the change.

The bill also creates a rate committee for the new department, grants the CIO rulemaking and delegation authority during the transition, and moves selected divisions (including AGRC) under the new department's structure.

The House debate also produced a recorded commitment by the sponsor to preserve career‑service protections for employees whose positions remain substantially similar after transfer and to use retraining and reassignment where appropriate, language Allen's amendment inserted into statute.

HB109 now advances to the Senate for consideration.