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Senate advances concurrent resolution urging federal waiver for employer‑sponsored work program
Summary
Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 asks Congress to permit a Utah employer-sponsored work program and to allow the state to withhold FICA/Medicare funds to help finance program administration; sponsors framed it as a private-sector-driven solution and senators questioned fiscal mechanics and local job priorities.
The Senate on Jan. 29 advanced Senate Concurrent Resolution 1, which urges the U.S. Congress to grant federal waivers that would allow Utah to implement a state-level employer-sponsored work program and to withhold federal FICA and Medicare revenue to apply toward health insurance and administration of the program.
Reading Clerk presented the resolution’s text on the floor, which describes an employer-sponsored program that would provide a two-year renewable guest-worker authorization for foreign workers and undocumented immigrants currently residing in the state, require fingerprinting and screening, employer sponsorship, medical exams and employer-withheld contributions toward health insurance. Senator Jenkins described the resolution as the product of an immigration task force and said the Salt Lake Chamber contributed the concept.
During floor debate senators asked how withheld FICA and Medicare funds would be applied. Senator Jenkins said the idea is the waiver would allow Utah to capture those funds and apply them toward the program’s health-insurance and administrative costs rather than remitting them to the federal government. Senator Maine opposed the resolution on the grounds that Utah should prioritize unemployed Utahns.
The resolution passed the second reading calendar and was placed on the third reading calendar for further action; the floor journal records the second-reading vote.
