Headlines
Toll road opponents rally in Austin against Trans-Texas corridor
WV: Private money, public roads
Private groups push Detroit ahead
FL commission strikes down use of taxes for tuition vouchers
Labor complaint over privatizing custodial work at Dover, NH schools
Mich: Southfield school board to vote on privatizing
Privatization of Texas lottery may get 2nd look in 2009
Texas’ welfare privatization efforts snagged
Voodoo health economics
Iraqis angered by renewal of Blackwater contract
Scripps offers naming rights for new species, for a fee
News Summaries
Toll road opponents rally in Austin against Trans-Texas corridor
A crowd marched through the heart of downtown Austin to the state
Capitol on Saturday to protest Gov. Rick Perry’s plan for 4,000 miles
of toll roads across Texas. The Trans-Texas Corridor, a proposed
network of superhighway toll roads, rankles opponents who characterize
it as the largest government grab of private property in the state’s
history and an unneeded and improper expansion of toll roads. Houston Chronicle
WV: Private money, public roads
The state Department of Transportation is hopeful businesses will come
forward and express interest in entering into partnerships to build new
roads. A new state allow allows for public-private partnerships. West
Virginia joins 23 others states which already have the authority to get
help from the private sector. WV MetroNews
Private groups push Detroit ahead
To get something done in Detroit, you traditionally went to City Hall.
In recent years, more and more you went to a foundation, a nonprofit
agency or a quasi-public authority. The legal cloud over Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick has some people wondering if the trend toward these new
privatized civic models will accelerate. No one wants to talk about it
on the record. But many civic leaders acknowledge the topic of the
mayor’s troubles is impossible to ignore. Detroit Free Press
FL commission strikes down use of taxes for tuition vouchers
A proposal to countermand the Florida Supreme Court and allow state tax
money to be used for tuition vouchers at private schools fell one vote
short Friday in a marathon meeting of the Taxation and Budget Reform
Commission. "The public school system is not adequately funded today,"
said Tallahassee attorney Martha Barnett, opposing the measure. She and
other opponents said vouchers would take tax money away from struggling
schools and give it to schools that might or might not need it —
possibly even home-schooling parents. Tallahassee Democrat
Labor complaint over privatizing custodial work at Dover, NH schools
A ecision to privatize school custodial work has prompted a formal
labor complaint against the school district. The complaint contends the
district refused a request to renegotiate the cost of the collective
bargaining agreement before awarding a contract to UNICCO, a private
Massachusetts-based company that will take over custodial services for
the district’s middle school and three elementary schools at the start
of the 2008-09 school year. Dover High School privatized custodial
services last fall. Foster’s Daily Democrat
Mich: Southfield school board to vote on privatizing
The Southfield Public Schools board will vote Tuesday on whether to
contract with outside firms for transportation, food and custodial
services in an effort to combat a deficit that’s expected to reach $7
million by June. The move to privatize would cost about 300 district
employees their jobs and offset costs of running these programs by
about $6.5 million. Ken Siver, district spokesman and assistant
superintendent, said privatizing would keep cuts away from the
classroom in the already shrinking district. The Detroit News
Privatization of Texas lottery may get 2nd look in 2009
Although the prospect of turning over Texas’ $1 billion-a-year lottery
to the private sector received the coldest of shoulders when Gov. Rick
Perry first suggested it, a year ago, proponents have been busy laying
the groundwork for a second, more concentrated push when lawmakers
return to Austin in January for the 2009 legislative session. Star-Telegram (Fort Worth)
Texas’ welfare privatization efforts snagged
Lost paperwork, other glitches often block help to needy Texans.
Lawmakers are worried that a partly privatized system for determining
who receives public assistance is still shaky and may not be
salvageable. State leaders acknowledge that promised cost savings
haven’t materialized and mistakes are common. Now, the system could be
headed for more severe problems, as a jittery economy means more Texans
may soon apply for public assistance. The Dallas Morning News
Voodoo health economics
Elizabeth Edwards has cancer. John McCain has had cancer in the past.
Last weekend, Edwards, wife of former Democratic presidential candidate
John Edwards, bluntly pointed out that neither of them would be able to
get insurance under the health-care plan Sen. McCain proposes. Op ed.
Paul Krugman. The New York Times
Iraqis angered by renewal of Blackwater contract
Iraqis expressed anger on Saturday at news the United States had
renewed the contract of Blackwater, a private security firm blamed for
killing up to 17 people in a shooting incident last year. Reuters
Scripps offers naming rights for new species, for a fee
A growing number of research institutions and conservation groups have
turned to raising money by selling species naming rights to the highest
bidder. San Jose Mercury News
Upcoming events
Forum. ‘The Privatization of National Defense’ forum will explore the
growing use of private contractors and its implications for national
security. April 9 and 10 in a program sponsored by St. Mary’s College
of Maryland, the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Patuxent
Partnership as part of the Patuxent Defense Forum. Cost: $95. See: http://www.smcm.edu/democracy/documents/PatuxentDefenseForum2008.pdf