News
NJ: Democrats in Trenton Push New Halfway-House Rules
The measures, introduced this week, could threaten the state’s largest halfway house, in Newark, which has 1,200 beds and is run by the company, Community Education Centers. The lawmakers also want more rigorous inspections of the system and an overhaul of halfway-house contracts. The privately run halfway houses in New Jersey, many of which are as large as prisons, handle thousands of inmates annually. After a series of articles in The New York Times this year described a system that faced little government scrutiny and was plagued by escapes, violence and drugs, lawmakers responded by conducting their own inquiry into the halfway houses, including holding hearings. They said in recent interviews that they now believed that the system had gone awry. New York Times
PA: Pa. unveils $34B, 20-year bid to privatize lottery
The Britain-based company that runs the national lottery in the United Kingdom is pledging to produce more than $34 billion in profits over 20 years if it wins a contract to manage the Pennsylvania Lottery, Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration said Tuesday as it moves toward privatizing the state’s $3.5 billion system. The administration said it will weigh the offer by Camelot Global Services, which it said is good until Dec. 31, and is the only one it said it will receive after two other companies that it would not identify dropped out. San Francisco Chronicle
PA: Dem plans bill to require privatization approval
A state lawmaker from western Pennsylvania plans to introduce a bill requiring legislative approval for privatizing government programs that would include the Pennsylvania Lottery, according to a news release last week….DeLuca questions whether private management could do as well as the success achieved by the lottery under public management and said no governor should take such “unilateral action” without legislative consultation and approval, according to the release. Central Penn Business Journal
CA: Mayor: Privatize waste or lose cops
Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin announced today that she will give her recommendation at the next city council meeting in favor of a local franchise taking over the city’s residential solid waste collection…. If the city doesn’t get revenue from another source, the police department is where cuts could be made. Fresno Business Journal
MI: Detroit City Council urged to reject water department contract
Dozens of residents said the contract would lead to privatization of one of the city’s most important possessions, and union leaders and other activists said the city was effectively signing over control of a crucial public service to outside, private entities. Detroit Free Press