SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah residents would no longer get reminders in the mail that their vehicle registration needs to be renewed, alcohol in state liquor stores would go on sale less often and state employees would see their benefits cut and pay raised under recommendations Gov. Gary Herbert is considering.
Those recommendations and more than 50 others were submitted to Herbert on Wednesday by the Utah Advisory Commission to Optimize State Government. The commission said its recommendations could result in $10 million in savings each year.
The commission was created by Herbert last fall. At the time, he didn't commit to following whatever ideas the commission came up with. Although Herbert said Wednesday he had not read the commission's report, he said it wouldn't go unused.
Among other things, the report recommends making gift cards to state liquor stores available and using special software to strategically place liquor, wine and beer in state stores so consumers will buy more expensive products. It also says the state should consider requiring residents to only register their cars every two years. Registration reminders would be made by telephone or e-mail.
However, the heart of the recommendations focused on three areas -- increasing schools' use of online courses, reconfiguring employee compensation and reducing prison expenses.
The report calls for building a parole violater center to reduce inmate recidivism, studying whether to open a geriatric prison facility to reduce housing and medical costs and re-evaluating sentencing lengths.
In education, the report recommends reviewing colleges' degree offerings to avoid duplication, encouraging the use of online textbooks in public schools and colleges and expanding the use of online courses in high schools and universities.
The report also recommends investing in early learning programs in an effort to increase the odds that students won't drop out of high school and create more expensive social problems later in life.
To reduce personnel costs, the report recommends switching from a pension system to direct contributions for employees. It also says the average state employee's salary is nearly 17 percent below private sector workers, while state employees' benefits are nearly 20 percent greater.
The report says changing that mix would result in the ability to attract and retain high-quality employees.
Other recommendations include moving the Department of Human Resources back into the Department of Administrative Services, possibly leasing public and higher education buildings when they're not in use and studying the privatization of state parks.
Several of the recommendations are ideas that have been considered before, but a lack of funding to implement them has been a problem.
Facing a budget shortfall between $50 million and $150 million, its unclear how much desire Herbert or legislators will have for investments in online education or new prison facilities. Herbert isn't expected to release his proposed budget until December. And the Legislature would ultimately have to approve most of the proposed changes.
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