West Shore School District may accept privatizing contracts

Source: Jana Benscoter, Sentinel, May 16, 2013

West Shore School District officials would not comment on where they stand on privatizing contracts of employees in food, custodial and transportation departments. Steve Mullen, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents the district’s support staff, addressed school directors at their regular Thursday meeting. He told the board he thought the students would suffer by contracting with a private, outside organization….Both Mullen and Fink believe administrators should examine their own salaries and pensions before cutting others’ salaries. Mullen points to the $6 million line item in the 2013-14 budget for administrative salaries and benefits. He said cuts should start there….

Opinion: Privatization proposal is sketchy

Source: Michael A. Smith, Hutchinson News, May 19, 2013

Should Kansas privatize services for the intellectually and developmentally disabled (ID/DD) population? The issue brought a lot of heat this past week. On one side are the members of the Kansas House Appropriations Committee. Like the Brownback administration, they are eager to include these expensive services in the state’s new, contract-based approach to Medicaid. This past week, House Appropriations leaders announced that no money would be appropriated to reduce the long waiting lists for ID/DD assistance, until privatization is approved. Committee members believe they are tying cost savings to a shorter wait for services. Opponents call it extortion. The proposal is rather sketchy. Generally, the Brownback administration and their House allies seek to replace the current approach, which relies on state employees along with not-for-profits paid by the state. Their new system would rely on insurance companies to manage the cases and subcontract the services….

Sumter may privatize library operations

Source: Millard K. Ives, Daily Commercial, May 18, 2013

Sumter County wants to close the books on municipal library operations, opting instead for a private company to provide these services. County officials are thinking about contracting the job to Library Systems and Services of Germantown, Md., saying it would improve the seven-library system by adding services such as eBooks and downloadable music….

….Two years ago, the county reviewed the possibility of privatizing the library system before deciding not to go that way, partly because there was no private library provider at the time and it was still testing the privatization of its transient, ambulatory and misdemeanor probation systems. Gilpin said those three systems are doing well….Sumter has since outsourced its EMS service, its transit service and allowed Citrus County to take over its Section 8 Housing Program….

School district will not privatize custodial services: 11 jobs preserved

Source: Aebra Coe, Petoskey News, May 14, 2013

Boyne City Public Schools will not privatize custodial services next school year. That was the unanimous agreement of the district board of education at its meeting Monday. By rejecting privatization, the district’s eight full-time and three of five part-time custodial employees will keep their jobs. The decision by the board came following a lengthy workshop session one week earlier during which custodial staff members offered up major concessions to their contracts. Those concessions will result in a $128,000 reduction in spending. Board members were seriously considering the move to a private firm for cleaning services after learning it could save the district $195,000 the first year of a three year contract, compared to the 2012-13 school year….

Lottery privatization pursuit continues despite approaching record-breaking profits

Leave a reply

Source: Jan Murphy, pennlive.com, May 20, 2013

Despite a trajectory that shows Pennsylvania Lottery profits on course to break the past year’s record-breaking performance, Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration has not abandoned its effort to privatize the lottery’s management. Administration officials have been working with consultants and lawyers to revise the contract that Attorney General Kathleen Kane rejected in February, because she determined it was unconstitutional….
Related:
PA Lottery privatization deal questioned by third state agency
Source: Associated Press, April 15, 2013

A third state agency is pointing to potential legal problems in Governor Corbett’s stalled plan to hire a British company to manage the $3.5 billion Pennsylvania Lottery. The chief counsel of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board wrote in a letter last month that the proposed contract is too ambiguous to tell what kinds of new gambling it would allow. As a result, the lawyer, Douglas Sherman, says it’s impossible to say whether it infringes on state casino gambling laws.

Corbett’s lottery privatization tab for consultants nears $3 million
Source: Jan Murphy, pennlive.com, April 2, 2013

Senior citizens may stand to pay a substantial cost in lost services if Gov. Tom Corbett’s effort to privatize the Pennsylvania Lottery’s management goes nowhere. Already, the costs of the consultants hired to assist the Corbett administration in that endeavor exceed $2.85 million, said Elizabeth Brassell, a spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue, which oversees the lottery. Unless another funding source is found, that money will come out of the lottery profits that are used to pay for senior programs, she said.

To understand the impact that would have if it came out of the lottery fund, information available from the state indicates that $2.85 million is enough to:
- Assist seniors in paying for 137,681 prescriptions through the PACE and PACENET programs,
- Pay for 1.1 million free transit rides for seniors,
- Provide 6,055 rebates through the state’s property tax and rent rebate programs, or
- Cover 576 months of nursing home care, the equivalent of paying the tab for 48 people to stay in a nursing home for a year….

Pennsylvania lottery deal being revised to address attorney general’s concerns
Source: Karen Langley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 16, 2013

…With an appeal to the courts due today, the governor’s office announced late Friday it would revise the contract “in order to provide clarification to the attorney general.” The attorney general had raised three objections to the contract: that it infringes on the Legislature’s power to make policy; that state lottery law does not allow monitor-based games, like keno; and that it included too broad a provision for Camelot to make claims against the state. The administration does not plan to remove keno or other components of the contract, but rather to demonstrate that the agreement is lawful….

Treasurer Rob McCord favors expanding lottery before looking to privatize its management
Source: Jan Murphy, pennlive.com, February 20, 2013

…At a Senate budget hearing, McCord suggested the administration would have done better had it had an open conversation with the Legislature about expanding the lottery to include terminal-based games such as keno at the same time it was looking at the idea of privatizing the lottery’s management….

Attorney General Kathleen Kane says Gov. Tom Corbett overstepped his constitutional authority in signing the lottery contract
Source: Jan Murphy, pennlive.com, February 14, 2013

Attorney General Kathleen Kane says Gov. Tom Corbett overstepped his authority in signing a contract with Camelot Global Services PA, LLC to take over management of the Pennsylvania Lottery. But that wasn’t the only reason she rejected it. She cited the state lottery act, the gaming act and other applicable case law as reasons why the contract didn’t meet her test for form and legality….

Toohil backs Kane on lottery contract block
Source: Kent Jackson, citizensvoice.com, February 19, 2013

AFSCME Urges Gov. Corbett To Negotiate With PA Employees On Lottery Proposal
Source: AFSCME Council 13, February 19, 2013

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/19/5200995/afscme-urges-gov-corbett-to-negotiate.html#storylink=cpy

Costa, Blake to Gov: Let Lottery Implement AFSCME Approach to Raise Profit
Source: State Sen. John Blake, Press Release, February 11, 2013

State Sens. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and John Blake (D- Lackawanna/Luzerne/Monroe) said that instead of outsourcing the Pennsylvania Lottery’s operations to a U.K. company, Camelot Global Services, the governor should allow the Lottery to implement AFSCME’s recommendations to raise new revenue….

Poll: Voters say don’t privatize lottery management
Source: Borys Krawczeniuk, Scranton Times Tribune, February 7, 2013

Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly think privatizing management of the state lottery is a bad idea, with some saying they’ll no longer play if that happens, according to a new Franklin & Marshall poll released Wednesday…Fewer than one in five voters (18 percent) said they either strongly or somewhat favor Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to hand off management of the lottery to a private company. Almost two-thirds (64 percent) either somewhat or strongly oppose privatization….

AFSCME adds new arguments in its lottery privatization lawsuit
Source: Jan Murphy, pennlive.com, February 04, 2013

…The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13 on Thursday amended its lawsuit in Commonwealth Court to provide two additional reasons why it thinks the court should stop the administration’s outsourcing of the lottery’s management….

Corbett Gives U.K. Firm 20-Year Pennsylvania Lottery Deal
Source: Romy Varghese, Bloomberg, January 17, 2013

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett handed the management of the state’s $3.48 billion lottery to the company that runs Britain’s National Lottery. Disregarding criticism from Democratic lawmakers and a union representing lottery workers, Corbett awarded the 20-year contract yesterday to Camelot Global Services PA LLC, which is part of U.K.-based Camelot Group Plc. The attorney general’s office received the contract yesterday and will have 30 days to review it, Eric Shirk, a spokesman for the governor, said by e- mail. …

Inside the Bid to Privatize the PA State Lottery
Source: Randy LoBasso, PhillyNow blog, January 15, 2013

British firm wins Pennsylvania Lottery management
Source: Paul J. Gough, Pittsburgh Business Times, January 14, 2013

It’s official: Pennsylvania will become the third U.S. state to have a private firm run its lottery. Camelot Global Services, which also runs the British lottery, will pay $34 billion over the next 20 years to run the Pennsylvania Lottery. …

Pennsylvania lottery workers’ union pitches own plan
Source: Laura Olson, Post-Gazette, January 9, 2013

Arguing that the state is comparing “apples to screwdrivers” in weighing a private company’s plan for boosting state lottery profits against the projected performance of public employees, a union representing lottery workers says it can beat the bid. In a proposal submitted Tuesday to Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13 contends that the bid from Britain-based Camelot Global Services PA LLC would provide less funding for seniors programs and too little security against missing its profit margins. …

Union fights effort to privatize Pa. Lottery
Source: Amy Worden, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 9, 2013

Unionized employees make Pa. Lottery pitch
Source: Marc Levy, Associated Press, January 9, 2013

Union say lottery privatization could be costly
Source: Melissa Daniels , Watchdog.org, January 8, 2013

Pennsylvania Lottery privatization Q&A: Secretaries of aging and revenue discuss Camelot Group bid3
Source: John L. Micek, Morning Call, January 8, 2013

…. Pennsylvania Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser and Aging Secretary Brian Duke took a few minutes to talk about the proposed privatization and the bid submitted by a North American subsidiary of the Camelot Group, which runs the National Lottery in the United Kingdom….

Corbett may hold hearings on privatizing the state lottery
Source: Laura Olson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 20, 2012

Lawmakers, union tiring of ‘secret’ talks on lottery privatization
Source: Mark Shade, Times Online, December 14, 2012

Editorial: More questions than answers in lottery deal
Source: Dave Fillman, Times-Tribune, December 16, 2012

State’s financial adviser doesn’t hide connection to only bidder for Pennsylvania lottery
Source: Jan Murphy, Patriot-News, December 06, 2012

A firm hired to advise Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration in its pursuit of privatizing the Pennsylvania Lottery management is no stranger to the company interested in taking over the lottery. The state’s financial adviser, Greenhill & Co., worked on the $576 million sale of the Camelot Group to its present owner, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, in 2010. One of Camelot’s companies, Camelot Global Services PA, was the only firm to submit a bid to take over running the state’s $3 billion-plus lottery enterprise for the next 20 to 30 years. Now both Greenhill, which has a financial incentive in its contract if the lottery’s management goes private, and Camelot stand to make millions if Corbett signs the privatization deal.

Pa. Auditor General-elect Eugene DePasquale questions the urgency in the Corbett Administration’s lottery management privatization discussion
Source: Jan Murphy, Patriot-News, December 06, 2012

Pa. House Democratic lawmakers blast away at Gov. Tom Corbett’s lottery privatization proposal
Source: Jan Murphy, Patriot-News, December 03, 2012

More questions than answers on lottery privatization
Source: Sen. Richard Kasunic, Daily American, November 29, 2012

…Last year alone, the lottery generated $3.48 billion in sales, reaping over $1 billion in profits – all dedicated to senior citizen programs, which was an increase of over 10 percent from the previous year. The lottery managed to achieve these record sales despite increased competition from casinos and other gaming offerings across our state. Without question, the lottery is one of the most well run, efficiently operated agencies in all of state government.

With this record of success, why has our governor been quietly seeking to outsource the lottery’s management, and hurry this closed-door process along with little public review or legislative scrutiny? The governor stated that he wants a private operator in place by the beginning of January.

Making matters worse and adding to a laundry list of already legitimate suspicions about this privatization process, we now learn that only one firm has bid to run our lottery. Citing concerns about the terms of the Private Management Agreement and the process, two other potential bidders bowed out in August and November, leaving British-based Camelot as the sole bidder. This lack of competition raises serious issues about the model the Corbett administration has chosen to solicit privatization proposals and begs the question of whether Camelot’s bid reflects the best deal we can get if we are going to continue down this misguided path…..

Pa. unveils $34B, 20-year bid to privatize lottery
Source: Marc Levy, Associated Press, November 21, 2012

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.

Privatize the lottery? Corbett administration moves forward with efforts
Source: Nick Malawskey, Patriot-News, November 09, 2012

As lottery privatization decision looms, another state offers advice
Source: Megan Lello and Radio Pennsylvania, WITF, August 8, 2012

Pennsylvania is currently looking into privatizing its lottery. But one official with the Illinois lottery, the only private system in the nation, is warning the commonwealth to carefully plan how it would choose a company to manage day-to-day operations.

Could the Pennsylvania lottery be privatized?
Source: Jan Murphy, Patriot-News, June 16, 2012

PA Lottery latest target in privatization campaign
Source: Mary Wilson, WITF, April 2, 2012

Pennsylvania exploring lottery privatization
Source: John L. Micek, Morning Call, April 2, 2012

Corbett eying private lottery manager
Source: Associated Press, March 31, 2012

Gov. Tom Corbett is taking steps toward hiring a private company to run the Pennsylvania state lottery, the latest move by the Republican to shift state services to the private sector….Last year, a private group that includes GTECH and Scientific Games took over management of Illinois’ lottery with promises to boost sales and revenue. The group gets a $15-million-a-year management fee and a percentage of profits it produces above a certain level….

Lowndes Co. files lawsuit against solid waste company

Source: Lydia Jennings, WALB, May 14, 2013

Lowndes County leaders are going to court to try to stop a sanitation company from picking up trash for some county residents. County leaders say Deep South Sanitation is in violation of a new ordinance that only allows Advanced Disposal to contract with county residents. … The ordinance that went into effect February 1st states Advanced Disposal is the only authorized waste collection franchise in Lowndes County….Before the ordinance was passed several solid waste companies were able to bid on the contract. Advanced Disposal was chosen on its proposal to charge county residents about $13 a month for pick-up services….

The Impact of Prisons on Employment Growth in Rural U.S. Counties, 1997-2004

Source: Shaun Genter, Gregory Hooks, Clayton Mosher, Washington State University, January 2013

In this study of prison privatization we draw on the insights of a recent body of literature that challenges a widespread belief that prisons help to spur employment growth in local communities. We look to these studies to provide an empirically and theoretically grounded approach to addressing our research question: what are the benefits, if any, to employment growth in states that have privatized some of their prisons, compared to states with only public prisons? Our research makes use of a large, national, and comprehensive dataset. By examining the employment contributions of prisons, as recent research has done, we were able to corroborate the general findings of this research. To study prison privatization we distinguish between states in which privatization has grown rapidly and those states in which privatization has grown slowly (or not at all). Our findings lend support to recent research that finds prisons do not improve job prospects for those communities that host them. We contribute to this literature by demonstrating that new prisons in states in which privatization is surging impede employment growth in the host community. To explain this we highlight the significant reduction in prison staffing – in both private and public prisons – where privatization is growing quickly.

Michigan district to privatize school bus service

Source: Kelly Roher, School Bus Fleet, May 8, 2013

Bus service for Walled Lake Consolidated School District (WLCSD) will be provided by contractor Dean Transportation starting with the upcoming school year. In a letter to district parents and staff last week, Superintendent of Schools Kenneth Gutman wrote that the district has been in negotiations with the Walled Lake Transportation Association since last August and has conducted 13 sessions. Gutman said that “good faith bargaining” with the association did not result in an agreement, but every facet of the transportation budget was “thoroughly researched,” and the district’s administration recommended Dean Transportation to provide transportation services beginning with the 2013-14 school year. The district’s board of education voted 7-0 to accept the recommendation and to begin the transition process….
Related:
Walled Lake may privatize school bus service, drivers concerned
Source: Megan Semeraz, Oakland Press, April 16, 2013

With a projected $10 million deficit for next year, administrators at Walled Lake Schools are considering privatization of the school bus services. … Ridge said that three years ago, the district looked at privatizing transportation, but ultimately threw out the idea after the department agreed to take a $5 million cut over a three-year period. In the agreement, some of the cuts the 120 transportation employees took included a 10 percent pay cut, loss of six holiday and vacation days, paying 20 percent more in insurance premiums and paying 100 percent of insurance increases over the three-year period. The drivers are not full-time employees and, Ridge says, the district has said they will never be — no matter how many hours they work. Ridge said the average bus driver makes $18,000 a year, but some make around $11,000….

…The district has already privatized the school custodial services and, Ridge said, the school board just approved a 2 percent pay raise for those private custodial workers….

…The company would charge $800,000 per year for new school buses, meaning taxpayer money would be used to purchase buses for a private company….

…Private bus companies, such as Durham School Services, have faced criticism for incidents that could have been potentially dangerous for students. Last September, a contracted Durham employee for Rochester Community Schools was arrested for retail fraud after attempting to steal $543 in clothing from Parisian at The Village of Rochester Hills. The driver, who parked the school bus outside the store, had previously been arrested on a similar charge. On Friday, WXYZ-TV Channel 7 reported that a driver dropped off a group of Northville middle school students at an undesignated stop — the side of Six Mile Road — after trying to get some of the students to sit down. Northville Public Schools privatized its transportation in July 2011….

County plans privatized recycling deal / Service will expand to accept glass, all plastics

Source: Joe Williams, Newark Advocate, May 15, 2013

By contracting with a private company, the county can expand its recycling efforts to include accepting glass and all plastics, officials say. Licking County plans to contract with Rumpke of Ohio Inc., of Columbus, to pick up recycling materials from drop-off sites countywide. On Tuesday, the county commissioners voted unanimously to award the bid to Rumpke. Voting on a separate resolution to contract with the firm should follow, according to Commissioners’ Clerk Beverly Adzic. Rumpke bid $8,313 monthly to provide single-stream recycling drop-off services at 23 sites throughout Licking County…
Related:
Licking County considers privatizing drop-off recycling service / Officials ponder sole bid from Rumpke
Source: Joe Williams, Newark Advocate, April 26, 2013

Rumpke of Ohio Inc., of Columbus, has proposed charging $8,313 monthly for providing “single-stream” recycling drop-off services throughout Licking County. The firm submitted the only bid for that work, which would pick up recyclables from 23 sites throughout the county now served by the Licking County Recycling department. The Licking County Board of Commissioners opened that bid Thursday morning, but took no action while awaiting a review of the bid and recommendation from Lindsey Grimm, director of Licking County Recycling….

Comptroller enters nursing home fray

Source: Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, Times Union, May 13, 2013

County Comptroller Michael Conners, long a staunch defender of the county-run nursing home, on Monday urged lawmakers to follow the lead of Saratoga County and hand control of the facility over to a local development corporation. But if the development corporation, working with a private management firm and the facility’s unions, cannot reduce the annual red ink within a year or two, he said, the facility should be sold….Conners devoted nearly his entire speech to the legislature to the issue, breaking his long public silence on County Executive Dan McCoy’s plan to privatize the 250-bed Colonie facility with a 10-year lease. Conners, who battled former County Executive Michael Breslin’s attempts to close it, acknowledged that he never thought he would entertain the idea of selling it….
Related:
Inside Politics: Another nursing home battle
Source: Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, Times Union, May 12, 2013