Category Archives: Uncategorized

November 26, 2012

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PA: Corbett eyes lottery privatization

On few issues are the battle lines being more sharply drawn here than the privatization of the Pennsylvania Lottery. The issue after all involves the future of a program that has provided $22 billion in revenue during the past 40 years. The Corbett administration recently took a major step on the way to privatization by seeking bids from private firms interested in managing the lottery. Democratic lawmakers are vociferous in their opposition to the idea. Citizens Voice

DE: Talk of privatizing Wilmington’s port resurfaces

Discussions of privatizing part or all of the state-owned Port of Wilmington are resurfacing after months of little movement. Two potential investors have made the reported short list as possible partners. A solicitation for the port pegged Wilmington’s future potential for cargo as high as 1.7 million containers each year by 2040. Union workers are concerned about the language of any deal. They want any deal to ensure protections for their jobs and pensions.  Delawareonline.com

FL: Editorial: Another sneaky move with prisons

It shouldn’t have happened this way. But a handful of people in Tallahassee are determined to privatize Florida’s prisons, including health care services, no matter that they can’t get enough votes to pass these proposals in the Florida Legislature. Sun-Sentinel

FL: Fla. judge skeptical about prison privatization

A skeptical judge on Monday raised questions about whether it was legal for the state to move ahead with a plan to privatize nearly 3,000 health care jobs in Florida’s prisons.  Circuit Judge John Cooper spent more than two hours Monday hearing a lawsuit from three public employee unions that challenged a move by the state’s prison agency to have private companies take over inmate health care. Cooper did not rule, saying he needed more information before he can decide whether an obscure legislative panel had the authority to sign off on the privatization proposal in September. Local 10

NY: Onondaga County must not privatize Van Duyn

If you want another good reason as to why, let me tell the tragic story of how nursing home privatization recently failed the citizens of Delaware County.  Syracuse Post Standard

State by State, the Case Against Prisons Becomes Promising

Contrary to the cost reduction promises of the private prison industry, private prisons in Arizona are actually losing money – $3.5 million a year – by incarcerating their prisoners in private prisons, a new report shows. Not only are they losing money, they are contractually bound to keep prison occupancy levels at 100 percent. However, many former privatization supporters are moving away from this position in favor of focusing efforts towards a more straight forward reduction of prison population. The conservative network of state legislators, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is a leader in this effort.  Once a strong advocate of prison privatization and mandatory minimums, ALEC has abandoned their work on privatization and are now exclusively focusing efforts on pushing out model bills designed to reform sentencing laws.  Independent Voter Network

November 21, 2012

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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

 

 

November 20, 2012

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Water Industry Outlook: ‘The Time Is Ripe’ for Water Privatization

The privatization of the nation’s water industry is set to explode in the next five years, according to the findings of a recent survey. And what the next three to five years hold, according to the results, is a surge in privatization and public-private partnerships in a quest to capitalize on the resource. As Jerome Devillers, Head of Water Infrastructure/Project Financing at WeiserMazars stated bluntly in a release, “Our study shows the time is ripe” for water privatization.  Common Dreams

Facing Rates Of $17 For 15 Minutes, FCC Takes Up Regulation Of Prison Phone Industry

This industry is so profitable because prison phone companies have state-sanctioned monopolistic control over the state prison markets, and the government agency with authority to rein in these rates across the nation has been reluctant to offer meaningful relief. Prison phone companies are awarded these monopolies through bidding processes in which they submit contract proposals to the state prison systems; in all but eight states, these contracts include promises to pay “commissions” — in effect, kickbacks — to states, in either the form of a percentage of revenue, a fixed up-front payment, or a combination of the two. Thus, state prison systems have no incentive to select the telephone company that offers the lowest rates; rather, correctional departments have an incentive to reap the most profit by selecting the telephone company that provides the highest commission.  Think Progress

Fla. judge skeptical about prison privatization

A skeptical judge on Monday raised questions about whether it was legal for the state to move ahead with a plan to privatize nearly 3,000 health care jobs in Florida’s prisons. Circuit Judge John Cooper spent more than two hours Monday hearing a lawsuit from three public employee unions that challenged a move by the state’s prison agency to have private companies take over inmate health care. Cooper did not rule, saying he needed more information before he can decide whether an obscure legislative panel had the authority to sign off on the privatization proposal in September. Business Week

NY: SUNY Buffalo buries controversial Shale Institute

SUNY Buffalo has decided to shutter the Shale Resources and Society Institute in response to criticism of its funding and the independence of the scholarship it produces. …Reports released under the institute’s aegis include a study that examined Pennsylvania’s fracking history and compared its enforcement actions with New York’s proposed regs (such as are known at this point). Its conclusion: Most of the negative incidents in Pennsylvania would have been prevented under New York’s proposed rules…..Considine’s research has been underwritten by the drilling industry. The institute later was forced to clarify that the report wasn’t “peer-reviewed” in the technical sense of that term.  Albany Times Union

PA: Corbett stresses pension crisis in 2013 agenda

Corbett presented a broad outline of his agenda for 2013, saying his chief priorities are addressing the pension crisis, privatizing state liquor stores, and combating the high cost of college. ” Philadelphia Inquirer

 

 

 

November 19, 2012

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FL: Privatizing of Prison Health Care Leads to 2,000 Layoffs in Florida

Nearly 2,000 state workers are being displaced from Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s administration because of the nation’s biggest outsourcing of prison health care. “Due to the outsourcing of this function, your position will be deleted,” reads a dryly worded dismissal notice from the Department of Corrections, sent to 1,890 state employees in the past two weeks. The Department of Corrections signed a $230 million contract with Corizon Healthcare of Nashville to provide all health care in central and north Florida prisons and is negotiating contract terms with Wexford Health Sources of Pittsburgh to take over health care in nine South Florida prisons for $48 million a year.  Miami Herald

FL: Close look shows state GOP was just badly out of touch

While the Legislature declared war on the welfare state and those collecting unemployment, its actions also targeted our public employees. During the 2010, 2011 and 2012 sessions, bills were introduced to privatize prisons, potentially putting thousands of corrections officers out of work with no proof of any cost savings; to drastically change healthcare and pension benefits for existing state employees; to tie teacher pay to student performance with no regard to the makeup of the classroom and with no funding source to offer merit pay; and to dictate to our police and firefighters what they can contribute to through a check-off on paychecks.  Sun-Sentinel ‎

TX: Getting There: For roads, free can also mean late

So this is the math: We can have toll roads, which toll drivers in perpetuity and cost more upfront — since contractors, looking at the financial risk involved with those penalties, tend to submit higher construction bids — but that are completed quickly. Or we can have roads with no tolls that are built much more slowly and at a lower cost with tax dollars. On the one hand, that trade-off has cost commuters an extra year of going through stoplights at U.S. 290 and MoPac. But on the other hand, they’ll never pay a toll to drive over those bridges when they’re done. That might be good math.  Austin American-Statesman

TX: FBI probes Dallas County IT contract, payments to County Commissioner

A $43 million computer outsourcing contract that created a costly mess for taxpayers has come back to haunt longtime Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price. Price got large sums from his political consultant, Kathy Nealy, while she received payments from an IT firm he was instrumental in hiring, FBI agents say. The contract is linked to the FBI’s criminal investigation of Price, who cast the deciding vote for Schlumberger Ltd.’s bid for the county’s business.  Dallas Morning News

NJ: Not happy with JCP&L after Sandy, towns explore starting their own power utilities

Several municipalities have looked into creating their own public utilities after JCP&L took weeks, in some cases, to restore power lost because of Hurricane Sandy, officials from Madison and Butler said. Officials from the two Morris County towns have said their residents got electricity back days after the storm because they operate their own utilities. The officials also said employees and elected representatives from neighboring towns asked them how they could start their own municipally-run power services.  NJ.com

CA: Toll jolts Los Angeles motorists

But one of the symbols of the American freeway — Interstate 110, which runs, or rather crawls, across central Los Angeles — is free no more. At precisely 10 p.m. Nov. 10, motorists faced a toll of up to $15.40 for the privilege of driving an 11-mile stretch of express lanes between Gardena and downtown Los Angeles. This is the first toll in the history of Los Angeles County, a passage, as it were, and a jarring experience for a part of the country that has long celebrated the primacy of automobiles, not to mention the first syllable of the word “freeway.” “I’ve been living here my whole life,” said S. Masani Jackson, as she waited on a 30-person line to buy the transponder required to enter the exclusive lanes. “And I have never had to pay for the 110 Freeway. It’s ridiculous.”  Bend Bulletin

Wall Street Uses the Third Way to Lead Its Assault on Social Security

Third Way, lobbyists for and from Wall Street who are leading the effort to enrich Wall Street by privatizing Social Security, was created by Wall Street to fool some of the people all of the time. Third Way is run by a man who Laursen terms an “acolyte” of Pete Peterson.  Peterson is a Republican, Wall Street billionaire who has two priorities – imposing austerity on America and privatizing Social Security.  Privatizing Social Security is Wall Street’s unholy grail.  They would receive hundreds of billions of dollars in fees and ensure that their firms were not only “too big to fail,” but “too big to criticize” if they could profit from a privatized retirement system. Truth Out

Looking Beyond Hurricane Sandy

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the media documented the vulnerabilities of metro-New York’s underlying infrastructure of electrical power, roadways and fuel delivery. Many people suffered and died as a consequence of widespread system failures. One component of the infrastructure that took it on the chin was the telecom system, especially wireless services. Telco service disruptions were reported in 158 counties and 10 states stretching from Maine to Virginia….The long-term crisis facing America’s communications system is rooted in the telco and cable companies’ effort to deregulate and privatize the public network. Their efforts are aimed at ending communications services as a public utility and turning it into a pay-for-usage private service. This strategy is designed to increase telecom corporate profits. The consequences of this strategy are alarming: it will end net neutrality and an open Internet, erode services for poor and rural Americans, and further compromise the nation’s long-term economic prospects.  Counterpunch

November 16, 2012

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ID: Gangs, Private Prison Company Allegedly Partnered Together

A new lawsuit brought by eight inmates of the Idaho Correctional Center alleges that the company is cutting back on personnel costs by partnering with violent prison gangs to help control the facility. Court documents and an investigative report issued by the state’s Department of Corrections show how guards routinely looked the other way when gang members violated basic facility rules, negotiated with gang leaders on the cell placement of new inmates, and in one instance may have even helped one group of inmates plan a violent attack on members of a rival gang.  Think Progress

IL: Chicago Passes Austerity Budget with Little Debate—But More Than Usual

What was notable was that three aldermen did vote against the budget and one, Robert Fioretti, spoke in strident terms about how cuts and privatization could hurt regular people. Last year’s budget passed unanimously despite deep job cuts, the closure of six union-staffed mental-health clinics, the privatization of primary-care clinics, and other public-service cuts.  “We may not be generating the headlines of the parking meters,” Fioretti said, referring to the debacle when former Mayor Richard M. Daley leased the city’s meters to a private company, “but we are eliminating middle-classes jobs. For what result? What do we say to our constituents who are sold out, to the dedicated employees of mental health centers, to the police officers who are not seeing vacancies filled? … This helps the city in the long run how?”  In These Times

IL: Aussie Traffic Camera Company In Turmoil Over Shareholder Revolt, Ethics Investigation

Australian investors angry at the recent performance of Redflex Traffic Systems let management know by issuing a “first strike” Wednesday against the photo enforcement firm’s compensation plan. …Just one day before this year’s meeting, Redflex issued a statement informing investors that the Chicago, Illinois Inspector General was conducting an investigation into allegations of corruption related to the city’s red light camera contract with Redflex — the largest automated ticketing contract in the world. Last month, Chicago announced it excluding Redflex from bidding on the forthcoming speed camera contract after learning about a breach of the city’s ethics rules.  The Newspaper

NJ: Retailers form group opposing a privatized lottery

Citing a potential shift in lottery sales from Main Street retailers to big-box wholesalers and online platforms, a coalition of small retailers and unionized workers has launched a grassroots campaign opposing the Gov. Chris Christie administration’s plans to privatize the state lottery. NJBIZ

VA: Authority Overseeing Airports, Toll Road, Repeatedly Warned over Contract Deficiencies

The agency overseeing the region’s two major airports and managing construction of the $5.6 billion Dulles rail project was warned repeatedly over the past 10 years that it was improperly The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, already under fire for such ethics abuses as taking Super Bowl tickets from contractors, issued several large no-bid contracts that violated federal transit policy, according to reports and audits.  Washington Post

VA: Virginians favor fixing roads; paying for it is another matter

Virginian voters oppose, 57 percent to 38 percent, putting tolls on parts of Interstate 95 in the commonwealth to pay for that work, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. Virginians are even less keen on higher gas taxes. Given the choice between that and tolls, voters prefer tolls 56 percent to 32 percent. The Quinnipiac survey found that Virginians oppose privatizing the state’s port operations, 40 percent to 34 percent.  Washington Post

OH: Ohio PIRG questions turnpike proposal

As the state nears the end of a study into how it can wring billions out of the Ohio Turnpike, a consumer advocacy group Thursday questioned whether such a deal makes sense and how it might be structured. The Ohio Public Interest Research Group questioned whether such a deal might include a clause, as Indiana’s did, that might prohibit improvements to nearby public roads seen as competition. “If it is structured like that, projects like that could definitely be in jeopardy,” said Tabitha Woodruff, Ohio PIRG advocate and co-author of the report. The issue of a noncompetition clause was one of several posed by the group as ODOT prepares to release the results of the study conducted by Texas-based KPMG Corporate Finance LLC by the end of the year.  Toledo Blade

FL: Privatization hearing postponed

A Thursday court hearing for a case filed against the state’s privatization of prison health services was rescheduled for Monday morning so attorneys could have more time presenting oral arguments. Tallahassee Democrat ‎           

Hurricane Sandy and a National Infrastructure Bank

Hurricane Sandy’s blow on New York represented a direct hit on lower Manhattan and Wall Street – the epicenter of global finance, peopled with master financial planners. Yet here is an irony: “Wall Street,” notes infrastructure expert Michael Likosky, “continues to build Chinese, Middle East and North African, Indian, and other nations’ infrastructure and pipelines. It needs to do more at home.” With a national infrastructure bank of the type endorsed by President Obama and many top fiscal experts, there’d also be a strong spur to attract big financial capital pools now on the sidelines.  Citiwire

 

 

November 15, 2012

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IL: Mayor Emanuel ensures parking meters remain in private hands

There’s a major reason Chicago hasn’t been able to get rid of its street parking privatization deal: because Mayor Rahm Emanuel has fought to keep it in place. That’s the gist of a ruling Tuesday afternoon by a Cook County judge, who found that the 75-year privatization agreement may be “a bad deal” but can’t be declared illegal as long as the city claims to be benefiting from it. At issue was a 2009 lawsuit filed by attorney Clint Krislov on behalf of the IVI-IPO, a public-interest group. The suit argued that the deal illegally privatized the government’s right to set parking and traffic policy and restricted the options of future city officials.  Chicago Reader

IL: Chicago Mayor Planning First Step to Privatize Water

It’s hard to build a case against the 34 water call employees. They perform a vital service, answering calls and providing information about water bills. No one’s accused them of malingering. In fact, fewer people are doing more work as the staff is cut and calls increase—no doubt thanks to Mayor Emanuel’s hike in water and sewer fees this year. However, Emanuel claims the city will save $100,000 by farming out the service to NTT while drastically cutting down waiting times and improving service at the call center. He says he doesn’t know how much NTT will pay its employees or whether they will have health benefits.  PDAIllinois

IL: Emanuel has open door for corporate execs, record shows

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has opened the door to his City Hall office for a steady stream of investment bankers, venture capitalists and international consultants in his intense search for private solutions to some of Chicago’s biggest public problems…. One of his top advisers, Lois Scott, headed a financial consulting firm that represented companies entering government privatization deals. And since taking office, Emanuel has had many meetings with experts who are offering solutions to such problems for other governments. Chicago Tribune

AZ: ACLU-Idaho says private prison company may be violating settlement in 2010 federal lawsuit

The organization sent CCA a letter last week detailing its concerns about safety at the Idaho Correctional Center south of Boise. The settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union stemmed from a 2010 lawsuit the organization filed on behalf of inmates at the prison, contending the CCA-run facility was so violent that inmates called it “Gladiator School.” CCA firmly denied the allegations, but the two sides reached a deal requiring staffing and safety changes at the prison.  Washington Post

CA: Public-private partnership for construction of Long Beach courthouse despite report

State and local officials have lauded the concept of a public-private partnership as an innovative, cost-effective way to build the new Gov. George Deukmejian Courthouse, but the concept may not have been the best approach, according to a recent study. The Legislative Analyst’s Office…. oncluded that the state Administrative Office of the Courts did not use clear processes and appeared “to have selected projects not well suited for” a public-private partnership. The report also stated that studies comparing the costs of projects under different options “were based on several assumptions that are subject to significant uncertainty and interpretation, and tended to favor” public-private partnerships.  Contra Costa Times

TX:  $4 million boathouse to be built at White Rock Lake

The project is a private-public venture between the city and Dallas United Crew, a coed high school rowing team…Under the deal, Dallas United Crew would raise the money to build the boathouse, which would be on the northeast part of the lake. No city money would be used. The city would own the building and earn 10 percent of the rowing club’s revenue, an estimated $150,000 over the course of a 20-year contract. There’s an option to renew the lease in 10 years. Some residents…worry that the deal represents a step toward privatization of the lake, a city park. Dallas Morning News

TX: Helium shortage could threaten Houston’s Turkey Day parade

Under the 1996 Helium Privatization Act, the land management agency has been charged with selling off the remaining supply of helium on federal lands as private industry and overseas production plants take over the role of helium extraction. Houston Chronicle

LA: More state workers laid off in past four months than in any year of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s tenure

Since the fiscal year began on July 1, 967 state employees lost their jobs and the state is set to shed more than 2,000 more positions as the effects of cuts to hospitals and the privatization of state services go into effect later this year.  NOLA.com

 

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November 14, 2012

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Phony school “reform” agenda takes a beating

The media barely noticed, but voters in three states rejected the profit-driven fraud that is education “reform”.  Salon

Enrollment in Charter Schools Is Increasing

In some cities, including Detroit, St, Louis and particularly New Orleans, charter schools enroll a significant proportion of the district’s students.  New York Times

The conservative push for prison reform

Nor is this a case of corporate cronyism. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which drafts model legislation for conservative state legislatures and is a newfound supporter of prison reform, does not receive support from any prison privatization companies, and has renounced its previous support for privatization measures.  Washington Post

MI: Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept considering privatization

Dozens of Detroit residents spoke out in opposition of proposed restructuring within the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. A public hearing was held today to get the public’s input on a $48 million no-bid contract for consulting services. Residents fear that savings will come at the cost of quality and jobs, a trade-off those in attendance were not willing to make. Arguments ranged from the allegations that EMA Inc. lowers quality of water and services to the need to create jobs and not eliminate them – to the argument that the department can fix itself. WXYZ

FL:  Editorial: Florida privatization runs off the rails again

Another state agency, another privatization scheme off the rails. The account of how the Florida Division of Blind Services has failed to monitor the agency’s private vendors is just one more example for Republican Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, who has been trying to bring sensible reform to the state’s privatization spree. Privatization only works well when the agency doing the hiring writes strong, service-oriented contracts and state employees provide effective oversight. Anything less is just government misfeasance.  Tampa Bay Times

PA: Hughes Questions Proposal to Privatize Lottery Management

“The Pennsylvania Lottery is an efficiently and effectively run agency that funds critical services that benefit Pennsylvania seniors.  The overall question is, why would the governor propose a privatization plan that potentially threatens to siphon off dollars intended to help seniors and pay them to a private contractor instead?” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny).- “The harsh reality is that moving into such a long-term contract as the governor has outlined would be the same as signing the mortgage to senior programs over to a private company for the next generation.”   ThePhilaNews.com

NY: Suffering on LI as Power Agency Shows Its Flaws

Trying to fend off attacks on his oversight of the Long Island Power Authority, Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday established a high-level panel, called a Moreland Commission, to investigate how utilities across New York, including the authority, handled Hurricane Sandy and other storms. He also revived a proposal that he made in his 2010 campaign to combine the authority with other state energy agencies, but has not ruled out privatizing the authority. “I don’t believe you can fix it,” he said. “I believe it has to be overhauled and you need a new system.” New York Times

VA: Tolls on I-64 can’t replace a true solution for state roads – opinion

It seems every strategy to build new highways and tunnels in our region includes tolls. Now the state – never accused of showing munificence to Hampton Roads – is floating a proposal to toll Interstate 64 between Hampton and Richmond. Oh, goody. Soon enough, our transponders will activate after we exit our driveways or subdivisions; maybe even both. It’s getting ridiculous.  The Virginian-Pilot

VA: MWAA to vote on rates increases for Dulles Toll Road

The board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is expected to vote Wednesday to raise fees on the Dulles Toll Road. The toll increases, which have been expected, are needed in part to fund construction of the Dulles Rail extension. Washington Post

 

 

 

November 13, 2012T

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TX: Texans call for boycott of first foreign-owned toll road

Today marks the first day Spanish toll operator, Cintra, starts charging Texas commuters tolls to use SH 130. San Antonio-based Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) and Austin-based Texans for Accountable Government (TAG) object to Texas’ first foreign-owned toll road, especially since SH 130 is part of the original Trans Texas Corridor TTC-35 (see it here). Though Cintra invented an innocuous sounding name, like the SH 130 Concession Company, make no mistake, a Spanish company, Cintra, controls and operates SH 130 for the next HALF CENTURY — and some say it represents a multi-generational theft of public assets.  Examiner.com

TX:  Death revives questions about high-speed toll road

A Lockhart woman was killed on the Texas 130 toll road in what is believed to be the first fatality since the corridor’s new segment opened last month with an 85 mph speed limit. Houston Chronicle

WA: Charter Schools Narrowly Win Approval in Washington State

Initiative 1240, the measure that will allow 40 charter schools to open in Washington state, has passed.  Seattle Times

GA: Georgia Legislative Caucus to Join Lawsuit against Charter School Amendment

Georgia voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment that will allow a state committee to authorize charter schools, but some legislators and educators are not dropping their fight to stop it.  Augusta Chronicle

PA: Power to the people – opinion

Citizens of Allentown should think twice before privatizing their water supply. Publicly owned utilities are accountable to the public that owns them. When you privatize them, you hand them over to an unaccountable board that cares about shareholders not the people. Look at how privately owned utilities work: PPL has allowed my family to freeze for four days after Superstorm Sandy. When I called, I was told to make alternate arrangements (on my dollar), which is the equivalent of saying, “Let them eat cake.” Being a virtual monopoly, PPL could take its sweet time restoring power to thousands across the Valley and do pitifully little to prevent a repeat of this event. Allentown Morning Call

VA:  State panel seeks ‘truth’ about the port’s finances

Against the backdrop of the possible privatization of the port of Hampton Roads, a state panel has asked the General Assembly’s oversight agency to take a close look at three recent studies of the port’s performance to make sure they’re presenting a fair picture. The request comes amid a morass of conflicting data about how the port is faring financially. The Virginian-Pilot

VA: Virginia studies toll options for I-64 from Richmond to Hampton

The Virginia Department of Transportation is studying whether to toll some or all of the lanes on Interstate 64 between Richmond and Hampton to pay for widening the corridor. Truckers can sound off on the proposal during three scheduled hearings in December or in writing through Jan. 7, 2013. VDOT has put forward three alternatives for the proposal, starting with a “no build” alternative. The other two alternatives involve tolls – one that would toll all lanes of traffic in both directions, and one that would toll only the new lanes being added. Land Line

 

 

November 12, 2012

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MN: Lapses in prison medical care have produced tragic results for inmates

Since 2000, at least nine prisoners have died after medical care was denied or delayed by corrections staff, a Star Tribune investigation has found, and another 21 have suffered serious or critical injury. …The Minnesota Department of Corrections has contracted since 1998 with Corizon Inc., a private, for-profit corporation based in Tennessee. The firm, formerly known as Correctional Medical Services, is the nation’s biggest prison health care company, holding contracts with 31 state and local prison systems… Working for a fixed annual fee — $28 million last year — Corizon has an incentive to maintain strict cost control. A review of Corizon’s state contract shows how lean the operation can be. Doctors employed by Corizon leave their prison clinics after 4 p.m. and do not work weekends. Prison nurses generally finish their last shifts by 11 p.m.   Star-Tribune

PA: Gov. Corbett: State has ‘an obligation’ to look at privatizing state’s lottery system

On Friday the Commonwealth announced it had developed a framework for the agreement. It includes annual profit sharing requirements and that ownership and ultimate control of the system will remain in state hands. Over the next two months that state will work with selected qualified firms to nail down a contract that both sides can agree on and will review business plans to ensure the selected firm can deliver as promised…. “We’ve said from Day One we’re looking to see what all we can privatize,” said Gov. Tom Corbett on Friday at an unrelated press event..,Not everyone agrees with the state’s proposal. AFCME, which represents about 160 of the lottery’s 200-plus employees, has objected to plans to privatize management of the system. The Patriot-News

LA: Lawmaker, Jindal clash over costs of privatizing insurance benefits

A state lawmaker is questioning why, if the state is saving money through transferring state employee and retiree health insurance policies to a private management firm, Office of Group Benefits administrative costs go up $154 million in next year’s budget.  Alexandria Town Talk

TX: Central Texas 85 mph toll road now charging

The free ride has ended for drivers on the Central Texas toll road with the nation’s fastest speed limit at 85 mph. The SH 130 Concession Co. on Sunday began charging on the new segment, which is meant to help relieve traffic on Interstate 35. The company developed and manages the toll road through a contract with the Texas Transportation Commission. Motorists with state electronic toll tags must now pay about 15 cents per mile, up to $6.17 for the full 41 miles. Drivers without toll tags will be billed $8.21 for the full length. Rates are higher for trucks.  San Francisco Chronicle

FL: Critics: Florida oversight lax for contractors like LightHouse

Looking for a lesson in how government outsourcing is working in Florida? Try this: Organizations that win business with the little-known state Division of Blind Services can bill taxpayers $58 an hour for travel time to meet with a blind person. The same organizations can charge taxpayers $2,000 or more to place one phone call. If the deal sounds good for the groups that win the no-bid state contracts, it’s because it is. Why? Because the private third-party vendors largely dictate the terms and receive little oversight, former Division of Blind Services employees say. Tampabay.com

CA: Long Beach Courthouse Cost Up to $160 Million Too Much

The independent California Legislative Analyst’s Office has found that the public-private partnership now building the state’s $490 million Gov. George Deukmejian Courthouse in downtown Long Beach is costing $160 million more than it should because cost estimates were flawed.  Long Beach Patch

CA: Los Angeles Prepares City’s First Toll Road           

Metro officials will turn on signs and computers at Los Angeles’ first toll road tonight at 10 p.m., ending the 70-year L.A. tradition of a completely “free” freeway system… The project is a one-year experiment, and Metro and Caltrans will survey traffic speeds and roadway capacity on the 110 Freeway to see if variable tolls can improve speeds. Average tolls are expected to run from $4 to $7, but could go as high as $15.40.  Woodland Hills Patch

TN: School Privatization Picks Up Steam in Memphis

A teacher writes to report that the privatization movement plans to take over her school and several others in Memphis. Tennessee now has a solid rightwing majority in the state legislature, a rightwing governor, and a TFA state commissioner dedicated to advancing privatization. Stand for Children is a major presence in the state, assuring that Wall Street money will be available to facilitate privatization and portray it as part of the “civil rights issue” of our day.  Diane Ravitch

 

November 9, 2012

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LA:  Jindal pitches outsourcing to school board members

Gov. Bobby Jindal is seeking to rally support from local school boards in his push to outsource a public employee health insurance plan. The Jindal administration says it sent out a letter this week to school board members, describing the nearly $7 million in savings estimated for school systems by hiring a private company to run the health plan. Jindal’s proposed contract between the Office of Group Benefits and Blue Cross/Blue Shield is scheduled for a Friday vote in the House and Senate budget committees. The Daily Advertiser

LA: Florida company picked to take over state-run mental health hospital

Bobby Jindal, began a push for privatization as a way of saving the services and jobs provided by the hospital. Hospital supporters, meanwhile, said they favored keeping the hospital in public hands and viewed privatization as a less desirable alternative. NOLA.com

FL: Florida voters show support for an independent, nonpartisan judiciary

An overwhelming majority of Florida voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment intruding on state courts and supported the retention of three qualified Supreme Court justices — affirming the value of an independent, apolitical judiciary…The Florida GOP opposed the justices — even though the merit-retention system was intentionally designed to minimize partisan politics. Each of the justices, in turn, took the unusual step raising of $300,000 to finance advertisements emphasizing their independence. They also gained widespread support from lawyers on all sides of the legal profession.  Herald Tribune

OH: A lesson to Ohio on possible turnpike lease

Six years after the state of Indiana turned its toll road over to a private company, there are still mixed opinions on whether it was a good idea. Ohio is now thinking about doing the same thing…. In conversations with members of the local legislative delegation, all expressed doubts regarding the lease. The group fears the turnpike will remain under the control of a private company for years after the state has spent the cash from the lease deal, and that would tie up a valuable state resource for decades. In Indiana, opponents point to the fact that the state could spend the $3.8 billion from their deal within 10 years. But supporters argue the state has also set aside $500 million in a trust fund that’s expected to generate $50 million in interest each year.   WFMJ

Occupy the Prison-Industrial Complex

Only a small percentage of prisons are private, but the privatization of prisons represents the worst of corporate profiteering from human suffering. TruthOut