Senators want proof outsourcing is better
Source: By Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee Democrat (FL), March 23, 2006
Stung by three years of state-personnel headaches in Gov. Jeb Bush's biggest privatization project, a Senate committee voted Wednesday to make state agencies spell out a no-nonsense business model proving that future "outsourcing" plans really will be cheaper and better. …… Her [Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon] bill (SB 2518) would require state agencies to develop a detailed business plan for privatization projects costing more than $1 million. A "council on effective government" would be created in DMS to evaluate plans and advise agencies on what works - and what to avoid - in contracting. For contracts of more than $10 million, the bill would require the effectiveness council to evaluate plans before agencies seek bids. And those big deals would have to be run past the council, the Legislature and the governor's office before being signed.….. Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, hailed an amendment added to the bill in committee, requiring that one of the options contained in every business plan must be an evaluation of keeping state employees on the job.