Utah. Governor's Commission on the Status of Women

The Governor's Commission for Women and Families, originally organized as the Governor's Advisory Committee on Women's Programs, was created to protect the rights of women and families in Utah.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY: Governor Calvin L. Rampton officially created the new 12-member advisory committee by executive order on May 6, 1968. An amended executive order signed September 18, 1970, changed the name to the Governor's Committee on the Status of Women and authorized up to 15 commissioners. Unfunded by the state, the committee functioned with assistance and financial support from women's organizations. The Governor's Commission on the Status of Women was statutorily established by the 40th State Legislature, in March 1973, and was given an appropriation from the legislature. The present commission consists of 19 members appointed by the governor for overlapping terms of four years.

FUNCTIONAL HISTORY: The legislature in 1990 enlarged the commission's scope of activities to include families, renaming it the Governor's Commission for Women and Families.

The original women's advisory committee was created to confer with and advise the governor and heads of various state departments regarding the planning of programs of particular concern to women, and to establish liaison between the governor and national organizations on the status of women and represent the governor at meetings of such organizations. It was further empowered to collect and assemble information form various state and local governments.

The enabling act passed by the 40th Legislature outlined additional responsibilities. The commission was subsequently authorized to produce position papers on issues relating to the concerns of women and, in 1989, began working with the state's newly created Women's Economic Development Bureau (UTSVH01636-A). In 1977, legislators encouraged the commission to "represent a borader spectrum of women in Utah and confine its activities to those defined in the enacting statutes." The legislature rescinded the commission's funding the following year, making no further appropriations until 1989.

The permanent Governor's Advisory Committee of Women's programs, established in 1968, succeeded an informal Governor's Committee on the Status of Women (UTSVH01140-A), which functioned from 1964 to 1966.