News summaries
Union calls foul on Air Force privatization plans
The federal government's largest employee union is accusing the Air
Force of not playing fair as it plans to privatize food service
operations at bases in Alaska, California, Arkansas, Florida and
Washington state...Union leaders worry this privatization effort could
lead to others. "If this is allowed to continue, we'll begin to see it
throughout the Department of Defense and throughout the federal
government, undermining the intent of Congress to regulate such
initiatives," said AFGE National President John Gage.
The Washington Post
PA: Pittsburgh parking proposal contains steep rate hikes
Within five years, drivers would pay more than double to park Downtown
if the city leases its parking assets to a private firm....Under the
proposal, parking rates at Downtown garages, which on average are 30
percent lower than private garages, would increase from their current
average of $11 per day to $15.75 per day by the end of the year.
Downtown meter rates would increase from $2 per hour to $2.50 by the
end of the year and cost $4.50 per hour by 2014. The cost to park would
increase with inflation, beginning in 2015...."Why would I come
Downtown or go to Shadyside or any other place in the city to shop and
pay $2 an hour to park when I could go to the suburbs and park for
free?" asked Elaine Simpkins of South Park. "It sounds like a plan that
will only benefit government, not business owners or residents." City
Finance Director Scott Kunka said there might be "an initial shock" to
higher parking rates that would cause people to seek alternatives...
Without the lease deal, the city could face a 24 percent property-tax hike;
a 44 percent wage-tax increase; or layoffs of 400 police officers, Ravenstahl
said.
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
NE: Lincoln mayor defends proposal to privatize meter readers
Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler said his budget proposal to lay off 10
parking enforcement officers and turn the work over to a private
company will save money....The parking fund would then be tapped to pay
a contractor, most likely the private company that handles the city's
parking garages -- Republic Parking System, a Tennessee company that
already handles maintenance and collection of coins from the city's
2,318 downtown parking meters...But privatization would affect police
officers, who would have to take on more duties because the company
would handle only downtown parking.
Lincoln Journal Star
KY: Ohio River bridges plan likely to include tolls
A financial plan for the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project has a
"very good" likelihood of including tolls, and the bi-state authority
overseeing funding is weighing some level of private investment, the
group's executive director said Thursday.
The Courier-Journal
TX: The right fix - editorial
It wasn't so many years ago that Texas was rated one of the most
efficient states in the nation in processing food stamps, a source of
nutrition for millions of lower-income residents funded by federal
dollars and administered by the state. Then state officials launched a
poorly thought out privatization and consolidation effort. In the case
of food stamps, the system has contributed to one of the highest error
rates in wrongful denial of applications and under- and over-payments
to participants. Texas — whose food stamp program serves more than 3.5
million recipients annually - was the worst performer in the nation
last year, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture official...There is
a route out of this mess. Federal regulations allow Texas to spend half of
the assessed fine to improve the administration of its food stamp system,
and the other half would be put on hold and dismissed if the program met
national standards in a year. Rather than appealing, the state Health and
Human Services Commission should take this opportunity to pump added
resources into the program and restore it to its former level of efficiency.
Houston Chronicle
