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Confusion and tension filled the legislative committee room Monday as lawmakers restored funding to some programs that just last week seemed to be taking hefty budget cuts.

But the state Office of Ethnic Affairs wasn't on the restoration list — yet.

That left OEA supporters wondering if it can even survive.

"In the 2002 Winter Olympics, we said, 'The world is welcome here,' " said one woman, who asked not to be identified. "The OEA extends that highest welcome from the people and the governor" to minority communities.

It also works with refugee services and with schools and other communities, serving as mentors and role models and looking after the interests of all those they represent, she said.

But last Friday, the Business, Economic Development and Labor Appropriations subcommittee voted to not fund the OEA, and to cut money to for cancer research, assistance to the homeless, research and other programs. Overall, the Legislature wants to cut half a billion dollars from the state budget.

Over the weekend, members of minority communities all over Utah started talking and e-mailing about the peril that seems to face the OEA, the woman said.

"People are networking," she said. "We need the Office of Ethnic Affairs."

Rep. Todd Kiser, R-Sandy, subcommittee co-chairman, said Monday there had been a unexpected "add-back" of funding, so money was restored to help fund the Huntsman Cancer Institute, some museums, farmland studies, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and others.

Those agencies, however, were established by legislative statute, as most are. The OEA's problem is that it was formed under executive orders from recent governors, including Mike Leavitt and Jon Huntsman Jr. — which means it's under the microscope in a struggling economy.

Mike Hansen is acting director of the state Department of Community and Culture, of which the OEA is a part. He said its two basic duties are working with state agencies, the governor and the people of Utah, making sure there's appropriate recognition of the multicultural state Utah has become.

It has an annual budget of $780,000 and seven employees. Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, said major companies that look at moving here, "always have diversity issues because of our image.

"They want to make sure they don't lose the best of the best employees because they're bringing them into an area where diversity is not appreciated," she said. "Having the existence of the office gives them some comfort."

However, she said, when the subcommittee asked the OEA to provide measurable results for what it does, it couldn't do it.

On its website, the agency listed nine 2010 conferences and events involving education, labor issues, aid to post-earth quake Haiti, hosting international delegations and collaboration with state offices and departments to ensure services reach the ethnic community.

Hansen acknowledged the OEA had been "very general" in its response to lawmakers. Internally, though, the talk is about the justice system, education and other issues involving minority communities as well as the entire population. And it keeps the governor apprised of what's going on out there.

For those worried people at the meeting, it's time to organize, to let Utahns know what the OEA represents. "A strong message of inclusion is greatly needed," the anonymous woman said.

Utah is becoming ever more diverse. Some may strain against the change, but it's real and it's happening fast. We need newcomers, and they need us, and we all need to work together.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs is a pretty inexpensive way to make that happen.

Peg McEntee is a columnist. Reach her at pegmcentee@sltrib.com.