Private Prison Bill : Danger to Workers, Citizens
Source: by Frank Smith, Vice President for AFSCME’s Alaska Retiree Chapter, Kansas Workbeat AFL-CIO, April 2006
Thanks to distortion of our legislative procedures a bill clearly against the interests of public safety and protection of Kansas taxpayers may soon win passage. Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt from Independence has inserted special interest, for-profit prison language into a veto-proof sexual offender bill, HB2576. For three years, Schmidt’s similar bills were unable to win passage on their own merits. ....... An Arizona study released last month revealed that public prisons are 8.5%-13.5% less costly than private prisons. Governor Sibelius has requested $20 million to expand existing facilities. Our Kansas Department Of Corrections Secretary, Roger Werholtz, regularly testified that such expansion would save Kansas considerable revenues.