Gov. Bill Walker will take a modest step toward streamlining state government by combining two divisions within the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Walker at a press conference Wednesday announced the Employment Security Division would be combined with the Division of Business Partnerships.
The combined agency will be the Division of Employment and Training Services.
The projected savings of the consolidation is $600,000. Walker says that won't balance the budget but it's a start.
He credits Labor Commission Heidi Drygas for coming up with the plan and says other consolidations are likely.
Drygas also is declaring Alaska a "zone of underemployment" that will allow an employment preference for Alaskans on state public works contracts.
The declaration requires that Alaska residents be given a 90 percent employment preference.