Last year, when setting the budget for the state Department of Administration, lawmakers added a clause requiring a 90-day delay before state employees became eligible for health insurance. JFAC Co-Chair Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said, "We did that because we believed there would be a savings to the state." But problems arose. Among them: The savings didn't go to the various agencies, as they were pulled back into the health insurance reserve account. Conflicts arose at the state Fish & Game Department with requirements related to their federal funding. And state colleges and universities said the new delay rule impeded their hiring of professors, and they were considering leaving the state health insurance system because of it.

So Cameron said he's giving up on the 90-day delay rule; when JFAC considers the budget for the Department of Administration this morning, he won't propose the requirement again. That means the state would revert back to a 30-day waiting period before employees are eligible for health insurance benefits.