Alaska Governor Prevents State Jobs from Moving Overseas

Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski recently signed an Administrative Order to make sure Alaska government jobs remain in the United States. His action came after the Department of Health and Social Services uncovered a contract entered into by the previous administration, which allowed U.S. jobs to be subcontracted to India.

Alaska entered into a contract in 2001 with Citicorp eFunds, later acquired by J.P. Morgan, to provide electronic benefit services to the state's food stamp program. Citicorp eFunds notified the state in December of 2001 that the customer support call center functions were being sent to Bombay, India. The previous administration took no action and consented to the transfer.

"I found this practice by the previous administration unacceptable and inconsistent with my administration's focus on economic development and bringing good jobs to Alaska and the United States. I am committed to an efficient and effective state government," Murkowski said. "In some instances, that means having vendors provide services to the state. However, the contracts we enter into should provide those services and the associated jobs in Alaska or the rest of the United States."

The Administrative Order issued puts in place policies and procedures that will help assure the use of workers in Alaska or the United States to perform state contract services. The order also mandates, in the future, vendors and subcontractors will be required to list where services will be performed. The state will also develop criteria to identify circumstances where providing state services outside of Alaska or the United States is in the state's best interest.