News
NJ: NJ lottery deal needs closer scrutiny — fast: Opinion There has been less than two weeks to protest and scrutinize the plan and there is plenty to protest and scrutinize. The bidding process produced one sole bidder — Northstar New Jersey — which will receive a 15-year contract with the state if all goes according to the administration’s wishes. The lottery is New Jersey’s fourth-largest source of revenue and generates millions annually for education and senior programs, yet we are entrusting it to a company that oversaw a decrease in revenue when it took over the lottery in Illinois. The Star-Ledger
PA: Ad targets lawmaker from Bucks on Pa. liquor privatization plan. A group lobbying for a swift end to the Pennsylvania liquor store system has launched a television ad focusing on a Republican state senator who will be instrumental in getting a privatization bill to the governor’s desk. The ad launched by the conservative group Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania comes a week before a Senate hearing on liquor privatization. Newsworks.org
PA: If Pennsylvania privatizes alcohol, will drinking increase? In 2011, the Community Preventive Services Task Force, an independent group appointed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommended against privatization “based on strong evidence that privatization results in increased per-capita alcohol consumption.”….”The common theme here is that if alcohol is more available, people tend to drink more,” said Robert Brewer, who leads the alcohol program in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the CDC. “So then the question is, where does privatization fit into that?” Philly.com
Stealing the Heart of a National Park: Oyster Company’s Alliance With Big Oil. Recent developments demonstrate how deeply involved the company is in the larger political agenda aimed squarely at opening up our most treasured landscapes to inappropriate commercial uses. Over the past two months, the plot has thickened considerably, with the oyster company teaming up with Big Oil interests and anyone else who could benefit from its precedent-setting land-grab effort. Huffington Post
Mica wants to privatize airport security screeners. Central Florida Rep. John Mica is once again calling for a change in airport security, including dismantling the Transportation Security Administration. WESH.com
2013: The Year of Public-Private Partnerships. More than 30 states have enacted legislation encouraging PPPs so far. In addition, former Governors Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, formed the Building America’s Future Educational Fund – a Rockefeller Foundation-funded group dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure via alternative methods that include PPPs. Huffington Post