SALT LAKE CITY,Utah -- A proposed drug-testing program for state employees would be narrowly focused on workers with access to sensitive information, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jon Huntsman said.

"This really ought to be something that people are grateful that the state is being proactive about," said spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley.

The qualification came after a labor association accused the Huntsman administration of mounting a broad-scale attack on public employees.

The plan was unveiled at a legislative hearing Wednesday by the chief administrator over state agencies and a deputy for Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

The random testing was offered as a way to combat identity theft -- authorities say meth users were known to commit financial fraud.

"We have a sacred trust when we have people's information," said Kirk Torgensen, chief deputy attorney general.

The Utah Public Employees Association says there's scant evidence drug use is a problem in the broader work force. They say it's a solution looking for a problem -- and part of a pattern of attacks on the civil service system.

"They want to change what's not broken. It's a constant attack," said Dennis Hammer, association deputy director. "It's just every time the public employee turns around, there's something else being taken away from them."

Jeff Herring, executive director of the Utah Department of Human Resource Management, said the drug testing would be random, and no agency would determine which staffers are tested. However, only workers with access to information such as financial assets, bank accounts, Social Security numbers, birth dates, household composition, home addresses and medical histories, would be subject to the searches, Torgensen said.