Guest worker program proposed

As Utah's pending immigration legislation continues to take fire from business leaders and other government agencies, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce came forward Wednesday at a Capitol legislative meeting and pitched a guest worker program it describes as a "tool to improve the Utah economy."

The plan, presented by Wesley Smith, the chamber's director of public policy, was crafted by chamber president and former Senate President Lane Beattie. Smith said the plan outlines a fundamental shift of the oft-criticized financial liabilities of undocumented workers from taxpayers to the workers themselves and their employers.

"The idea behind the guest worker program is, in most if not all respects, to take the (financial) burden from the public and put it in the private sector," Smith said. "That financial burden will be borne by the guest worker and the guest worker's employer."

The program proposes to create a two-year, renewable guest worker authorization for foreign workers and undocumented immigrants who are currently residing in the state of Utah. Workers would be required to register with a governing body, tentatively identified as the Utah Department of Workforce Services, and successfully pass both a security check (any felony convictions or serious offenses automatically would exclude the applicant from the program), and a medical screening. Further requirements would include the posting of a surety bond that would be forfeited if the guest-worker terms were not met, a 10 percent payroll withholding that would be held in trust until completion of the contract, and requisite health and auto insurance.

Smith said a key obstacle to overcome are federal regulations that would inhibit some provisions of the program, although the chamber had worked with Utah members of Congress, who supported it and would help with waivers. Those federal exceptions would give Utah the right to issue temporary work permits to undocumented persons, to engage in aggressive enforcement of federal and state immigration law and to funnel FICA and Medicare payroll withholdings back to the state to cover health insurance and cover administrative costs.

An outline of the plan Smith distributed to lawmakers said the enhanced law enforcement efforts would be necessary to stem a possible "large influx of undocumented workers who may be attracted to Utah's new program."

Smith contends the residency requirement of the worker permits, in addition to stepped-up enforcement, would somewhat limit this influx. Plus the very nature of the worker permit offer would provide a de facto screening process among undocumented residents.