News Headlines
IL: Business group backs leasing lottery
TX: Teachers criticize money to private schools
PA: Congressman says agency ‘stalling’ I-80 plan
IL: O’Hare taking it one runway at a time
MA: Library will not privatize
KS: County considers naming rights for parks
FL: Residents protest highway privatization
FL: Commissioners wrangle on privatization

[click on ‘continued reading’ link for articles]

News Summaries
IL: Business group backs leasing lottery
A top business group has put its weight behind a plan to expand
gambling in the state and lease most of the Illinois Lottery to a
private company. A top business group has put its weight behind a plan
to expand gambling in the state and lease most of the Illinois Lottery
to a private company. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce Tuesday lent its
support for the gambling concept because it would pay for billions in
improvements to the state’s aging roads and bridges. Quad-City Times
TX: Teachers criticize money to private schools
Teacher and other education groups Tuesday criticized Texas Education
Commissioner Robert Scott for opening the door to some private schools
to get state funding for programs aimed at dropouts. The Dallas Morning News
PA: Congressman says agency ‘stalling’ I-80 plan
A Congressman opposed to putting tolls on Interstate 80 said the
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is "just stalling" in the resubmission
of its federal application to toll the highway. Gov. Ed Rendell urged
the agencies more than a week ago to "expedite" the process and reapply
by May 23. Rendell’s proposal to lease the turnpike — lagging in
legislative support — would get a boost if the federal agency rejected
the tolling plan. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
IL: O’Hare taking it one runway at a time
To compensate for lackluster financial support from carriers, the city
is looking at a public-private partnership as a funding source. OMP
executive director Rosemarie Andolino said that private investment was
being considered on a proposed new terminal on the western edge of the
airport that is part of the second phase. The city hopes if it turns to
a public-private partnership to raise about $800 million to finance
construction of the terminal. In exchange, private investors could
benefit from the sales revenues that could be generated within the
terminal. Chicago has entered into several privatization-lease deals of
existing assets, but any such deal on the O’Hare expansion would mark
the city’s first use to help finance the construction of a new asset.
Officials are currently reviewing proposals from six teams interested
in bidding on the rights to operate Midway Airport under a long-term
lease for an upfront payment that some have said could fetch around $3
billion. Chicago launched the national wave of interest in privatizing
assets with its 99-year concession lease of the Chicago Skyway tollroad
in early 2005 to a private consortium for $1.8 billion. The city has
since entered into a long-term lease on its downtown parking garages in
a $563 million deal and has advanced plans to privatize its parking
meter system and three waste-recycling centers. The Bond Buyer
MA: Library will not privatize
Three months after the town’s Financial Planning Task Force entrusted
the Tewksbury Public Library’s Board of Trustees to investigate the
benefits of privatizing the town’s public library, the trustees concluded
they cannot support a decision to privatize the library. The trustees
stated they lacked conclusive evidence that privatizing would bring any
savings to the town. Tewksbury Advocate
KS: County considers naming rights for parks
You or your company could become the namesake of a Shawnee County golf
course, swimming pool or baseball field. That is because county
commissioners are looking at selling advertising and naming rights at
county parks and recreation properties. "If the price is right, we’ll
name Lake Shawnee after you," Commissioner Vic Miller said Tuesday.
Topeka Capital Journal
FL: Residents protest highway privatization
If the state’s proposal to privatize the Alley becomes a reality, you
will likely be paying more to get to Miami by the end of this year. "We
see this as the beginning of a trend and we’d like it to stop before it
gets started," Gary Eidson of the Collier County Citizens
Transportation Coalition says. WINK News
FL: Commissioners wrangle on privatization
Library hours would shrink, parks close more often and some people lose
their jobs under a series of budget options outlined Tuesday that had
Broward commissioners debating the role of government and lamenting
their predicament. But it also turned into a philosophical discussion
on privatizing public services and the need to balance quality of life
with fiscal reality. "It concerns me greatly that we are heading down a
privatization path that we do not want," Commissioner Kristin Jacobs
said during talk of replacing all county-employed lifeguards with
private hires. "We do not choose this, our Republican legislature in
Tallahassee chose this." Sun-Sentinel