News

FL: FDOC Asks Fla. Legislature For Money Back From Failed Prison Privatization Plan

The Florida Department of Corrections is hoping the Florida Legislature will give them back about 11 million dollars that was taken out of its budget when lawmakers planned to privatize about 30 prisons in South Florida…. “We’re just asking for the restoration of the 7-percent savings, which was $10.8 million. When they cut our budget the previous year, and the privatization didn’t move forward, we did not get restored the seven-percent,” said Mark Tallent, the department’s Director of Budget and Finance. WFSU

IN: IU Hires Goldman Sachs To Evaluate Parking Privatization

Indiana University officials have hired investment banking firm Goldman Sachs to analyze its parking operations and determine if it makes economic sense to find a private vendor to run them.  IndyPublicMedia

PA: Hurricane Sandy may fuel public-private partnerships in rebuilding efforts

Under a “P3” law Gov. Corbett signed over the summer, Pennsylvania has convened a committee of pro-development “rock stars”.   For example, builders might propose projects to add toll lanes on I-95, a second deck on the Schuylkill Expressway, a toll bridge on Route 422 over the Schuylkill, and other projects to be funded through future tolls instead of borrowed money and taxpayer annuities.  Philadelphia Inquirer

Paul Krugman: Mitt Romney’s Proposal To Privatize FEMA Is ‘Pathological’

“There’s something pathological” about “the weird Republican obsession with killing FEMA,” or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the New York Times columnist wrote in a blog post Wednesday. “It’s really hard to think of a public service less likely to be suitable for privatization.” Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said at a GOP primary debate last June that he would “absolutely” shut down FEMA and transfer its responsibilities to the states. “If you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better,” Romney added.  Huffington Post