Headlines
AZ: Arizona private prisons slammed by report
FL: Gov Scott moves to keep prison privatization alive
‎FL: Feds deal setback for Florida’s Medicaid privatization
‎CA: Calif. weak on oversight of for-profit colleges, advocacy groups say
PA: Liquor privatization compromise legislation

News summaries
AZ: Arizona private prisons slammed by report
Arizona’s private prisons are not cost-effective for taxpayers and are more difficult to monitor than state prisons, according to a new report by a prison watchdog group that is calling for a moratorium on any new private prisons in the state…Based on public-information requests and other data, the report by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group that works on criminal-justice reform, concluded that: Arizona paid $10 million more for private prison beds between 2008 and 2010 than it would have for equivalent state beds. The Arizona Republic

FL: Gov Scott moves to keep prison privatization alive
‎Gov. Rick Scott has his office working to determine what he can do to keep up the effort to bid out the services of up to 26 Central and South Florida correctional institutions this session. With the private outsourcing effort projected by state economists to save at least $16.5 million a year, Scott is trying to determine if he can proceed on his own or through other means after the Florida Senate — with 10 Republicans joining the entire Democratic roster — rejected a bill on the future management of the facilities on Tuesday. Sunshine State News

FL: Feds deal setback for Florida’s Medicaid privatization
‎Republican lawmakers’ quest to expand a Medicaid privatization program statewide was dealt a blow last week after federal health officials said the state could not impose $10 monthly premiums on Medicaid beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also denied the state’s proposal to charge $100 co-pays for any non-emergency ER visits, according to a letter sent Feb. 9. Federal health officials said the fees violated several statutes designed to protect nearly three million of state’s most vulnerable residents…The privatization program builds on a controversial five-county pilot program that started in 2006. Patients said they struggled to get doctor’s appointments and doctors dropped out of the program complaining the health plans denied the treatments they prescribed. Several health care providers also dropped out of the program, saying they couldn’t turn a profit, leaving patients to be deal with gaps in services as they were bounced between plans.  South Florida Times

CA: Calif. weak on oversight of for-profit colleges, advocacy groups say
California’s recently formed Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education has significant weaknesses in its oversight of for-profit colleges, advocacy groups told lawmakers at a hearing this week. The agency’s lax approach limits its ability to police abuses in the for-profit sector, said Jamienne S. Studley, CEO of Public Advocates Inc., a nonprofit law firm and advocacy group in San Francisco. California Watch

PA: Liquor privatization compromise legislation
The Pennsylvania Senate Law and Justice Committee has proposed legislation that looks to be a compromise gesture between ardent privateers a la House Majority Leader Mike Turzai and advocates for the PLCB…The compromise bill will give the PA House and Senate the opportunity to modernize the PLCB and also generate $75 million a year in new state revenues which could be used to forestall some of Governor Corbett’s proposed budget cuts.  Senate Bill 1287 would free the PLCB to operate like a modern, wholesale and retail business and deliver a greater return for all Pennsylvania taxpayers.. Keystone Politics