Panel favors office shuffle

A bill to restructure the state Department of Community and Economic Development — bringing some parts into the governor's office — was passed out of a House committee on Tuesday.

The House Workforce Services and Community and Economic Development Standing Committee gave HB318 a unanimous favorable vote.

Chris Roybal, senior adviser for economic development for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., said the bill would allow the governor to "more easily implement his economic development strategy and programs."

The 180-page bill transfers two of the department's divisions — those in charge of community and economic development and travel development — to a newly created Governor's Office of Economic Development. The remaining five divisions remain in the department, which would be renamed the Department of Community and Culture.

Among other provisions in the bill are changing the Board of Business and Economic Development to strictly an advisory board and renaming the Board of Travel Development to the Board of Tourism Development.

"This is a restructuring," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Craig Buttars, R-Lewiston. "This is a shifting of responsibility, and, in my opinion, it's a streamlining of the process."

The bill is designed to allow the state to react more quickly and with more flexibility when economic development issues arise. Roybal said Huntsman expects to spend up to a week each month working on economic development activities.

"We believe that by having the staff and those positions closer to the governor and to myself as senior adviser, that we'll have a better opportunity to implement those programs," Roybal said. "We'll probably have a smaller team providing that service, but we do look to have efficiencies over time. . . . We just believe that with the governor involved personally, it provides a better opportunity to provide that link to the governor's office as opposed to having it buried within a department."

As for the Board of Business and Economic Development having its policy duties removed, Roybal said the governor wanted consistency with the travel council, which is strictly an advisory board. He added, however, that the advisory status "is very much an impactful, responsible status."

Jerry Oldroyd, a member of the board and its Industrial Assistance Fund committee, testified that he had had concerns about the governor's office having control but said the governor's office has worked hard to ensure adequate protections and checks and balances.

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