Utah's experiment with a four-day workweek for state employees has a somewhat unexpected fan — newly re-elected U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

At a press conference after he was re-elected to his position on Tuesday, Hoyer said among the things he hopes to push in partnership with the new Obama administration is going to a four-day workweek like Utah to save money and energy.

"In a time of energy crisis, the state of Utah and others have adopted a premise that I think makes sense. That is to make more available the opportunity for a longer (work) day, but maybe a four-day workweek with a 10-hour day as opposed to an eight-hour day," Hoyer said.

Hoyer envisions perhaps not simply closing government agencies on Friday, like in Utah, but maybe having a different fifth of the federal work force each take a different day off during the regular workweek to reduce traffic congestion.

"You could take ... a fifth, 20 percent, (of employees) off the road in the Washington metropolitan area every day. That would be an energy savings, a time savings," he said adding that he felt it would still allow "as efficient a work force as we have now."

Hoyer said when he earlier bounced the idea by the Office of Personnel Management, it responded negatively — but then later issued an advisory that he said "seemed to encourage a similar step," so he has hope for it.

Hoyer added, "I hope to pursue that with the Obama administration."

Utah executive branch offices went to a 10-hour, four-day work week in August when Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said that shutting down some 1,000 state buildings on Fridays (some only partially) would save $3 million annually in utility costs.

Utah was the first state to switch to a Monday-to-Thursday schedule — but caused some consternation when residents went, for example, to Department of Motor Vehicles offices on Fridays to try to renew driver's licenses and found them closed.

That experiment has attracted attention in the national press, including Huntsman being interviewed on CNN when the switch was made.

A Philadelphia Inquirer story last week said many corporations and governments are watching Utah's experiment to see if it might also save them money.

"We're watching very closely," Michael Littlejohn, vice president for human capital management at IBM, told the Inquirer about four-day policies, particularly Utah's.

E-mail: lee@desnews.com