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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A legislative committee has approved a measure that proposes asking the federal government to allow Utah to establish a state-run guest worker program.
Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, is sponsoring the resolution, which asks Congress and President Barack Obama for permission to start a partnership between private employers and the state that would let undocumented immigrants in Utah apply for temporary legal residency.
Under a program, employers would sponsor workers and the taxes withheld from their paychecks would be used to give them health insurance.
Wesley Smith, public policy director for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, says the resolution is a tool to get the state and federal government to communicate about the issue.
The proposal now goes to the House floor.
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Information from: Standard-Examiner
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
