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| Prison Privatization Measure Headed To Senate Floor |
| By miami.cbslocal.com |
| Published: 01/26/2012 |
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TALLAHASSSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) — A legislative proposal to privatize about 30 prisons in most of the southern part of the state is headed for the Senate floor after a vote in the Budget Committee that angered prison guards who feel they’re not being heard. The proposal was put into law as part of last year’s budget, to be later thrown out by a court. Senate backers say the issue has been thoroughly vetted, but corrections officers say the proposal (SB 2038) is moving too fast, and lawmakers should slow the process down. The Budget Committee on Wednesday heard only from a representative of the Teamsters, which represents the corrections officers, and from TaxWatch, which supports the idea, before voting 14-4 to send it to the full Senate. About 30 corrections officers in the committee room yelled “shame, shame” after the vote – and the driving force behind the measure, Budget Chairman Sen. JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, later heard from several of them in a hastily-arranged meeting at the Capitol. But Alexander and other backers say their minds aren’t swayed. The move makes sense financially, they say – some estimates say it could save more than $20 million in the first year – and lawmakers also are intent on asserting their authority to privatize state agency functions without needing the executive branch to give the OK. There was some debate on the particulars of the bill on Wednesday, including intensive discussion of who would be responsible for the cost of tracking down escapees from private prisons. The bill now says that costs incurred for capturing any escapees during the first 48 hours would be borne by the private prison company. After that, anyone caught would likely be apprehended as part of normal day-to-day law enforcement activity, backers say. Read More. |
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