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Senate adopts resolution urging federal waiver for employer‑sponsored work program, 16‑13
Summary
The Utah Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 1, asking the U.S. government to permit a state employer‑sponsored work program that would capture FICA/Medicare withholdings to help fund a program for undocumented workers; the measure passed 16‑13 after debate over whether the language creates de facto amnesty.
The Utah Senate on Feb. 17 adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 1, a conference‑committee report asking the federal government to allow a state employer‑sponsored work program that would capture Social Security (FICA) and Medicare withholdings to help fund program costs. The motion to accept the conference committee report and to pass the resolution carried by recorded vote, 16‑13.
Sponsor Senator Jenkins described the resolution as a narrowly framed request to the federal government, not a mechanism for amnesty. Jenkins said the concept is to recruit undocumented workers into a two‑year enrollment with incentives and partial fund retention so the state could operate a program, adding, “as these people come in and register for this program, we will give them a two‑year waiver … and we will even incentivize them by leaving some money in the program so that when their two years is up, they can take a percentage of their money that's left and then incentivize them to go home.”
Opponents pressed for clarity on how withholdings would be handled. Senator Niederhauser asked whether the proposal still intended to capture withholding taxes and apply them to program costs; Jenkins replied that the intent remains to capture withholdings after wages are paid but that the bill’s wording was made more general after conference committee negotiations. Senator Madsen and others argued removing the word “federal” did not resolve concerns because FICA and Medicare withholdings are federal in nature and cannot simply be diverted without federal authorization.
Several senators voiced concern that the measure could be perceived as amnesty. Jenkins countered that the proposal is a practical attempt to register workers who will remain in the country regardless of state policy, saying, “SP 81 does not require or does not force these people out of our society … So the purpose behind this resolution is … we will give them a two‑year waiver to be part of the program and we will even incentivize them.”
The resolution is a request to the federal government, not a change to state statutory withholding law; senators who opposed it said the language remained ambiguous and could be misconstrued. The concurrent resolution will be returned to the House for the Speaker’s signature and any further transmittal to federal officials.
